A Charismatic Evil
by willgirl
Summary: Booth and Brennan struggle to solve a case when a series of bodies come their way that may or may not be inextricably linked.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, here is the very short prologue of my new Bones story! It's going to be longer than others I think and I'm trying something new! A Case Fic! (I know, what am I thinking!) I'm going to try to be as accurate as possible, but I'm sure that there will be mistakes. This story will probably only be updated once a week, as I am going to edit my chapters before posting them. (Plus all the research should take me a while. References located in my profile!) Hope you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: This story describes graphic scenes of death. **

The cold, stiff air blew through the trees, causing the leaves to tremble slightly. One fell from it's branch and slowly made its way to the ground, coming to rest against a charred finger.

The finger belonged to a body, one that was burned beyond all recognition. Tendrils of smoke still rose from the blackened bones, disappearing into the night air.

He (for it was a he) was coal black from head to foot. Only remnants of his once white eyes could be distinguished. One arm was placed over his mouth as if in a last ditch attempt at shielding himself from the blazing inferno. Pieces of burned flesh clung to him; his heart, once alive and beating, now shrivelled and black.

He lay in a clearing in a forest, the surrounding trees black with soot.

Lost in a woods that was rarely visited. Once a man, now nothing but burned flesh and bones.

Five hundred miles away, a fly landed on the bluish lip of a nine year old girl. Her blonde hair spread out around her head like a halo, her eyes wide open and almost protruding from her face. Her mouth was in a perfect 'O' of surprise as if she wasn't expecting the tight skipping rope around her neck to do its job.

Maggots had begun to tear away at her visible flesh, the rest of her body half-buried in a landfill amongst the garbage of the city.

Clutched in her hand is her backpack, a last link to the life she once knew.

And five miles away from her, Dr. Temperance Brennan awoke to begin her day.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So here's the next chapter! Finally! After the prologue I had some trepidations about this chap for some reason but I think its good. A few things to mention.**

**1. Thanks to AnaG for betaing. Little does she know, I'm totally taking her up on her offer again. And again. And again.**

**2. I've started a livejournal that's documenting my ups and downs while writing this story. The link is in my profile if you are interested:**

**And last but not least, thanks for the reviews!**

**Chapter One**

"Bones, chop, chop. Let's go. We have a case." Booth said as he swiped his card and made his way up the steps of the Medico-Legal lab.

"I'm busy." Brennan replied, not even looking up from the skeleton she was intensely studying.

"I'm sorry, didn't you hear me? I said case, Bones." He said, waving the file around. "C'mon." he wheedled. "A body was found in a landfill. I got everyone on standby. We wouldn't want your precious remains to be tampered with."

"Fine." She said, standing up and pulling off her gloves. "Let me get my stuff. Zach, can you finish this up?"

"Absolutely, Dr. Brennan." Zach said, moving towards the skeleton.

Brennan went into her office and a few moments reappeared, her kit in hand.

"Okay, let's go." Booth said, gesturing to the door.

She rolled her eyes at him as he placed his hand on her back and lead her out the door.

"So… how's your father?" he said, once they were on the road.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked.

"Nothing. I'm just trying to start a conversation. Small talk, you know?"

"Actually, small talk alludes to unimportant subjects of conversation, as opposed to serious or weighty ones. My father counts as a serious one I think. And I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine. I was just checking."

"Well, there's nothing to check." She replied. "Everything's fine. So how was the body found?"

Booth noted her abrupt change of topic as a signal that she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"One of the dump truck drivers had pulled up to the side and begun to unload when he saw something out of his rear view mirror. He got out and saw the body a few feet away."

"Good thing he saw, otherwise it would have never been found." Brennan said.

"Well they were, so now it's our turn." He replied, pulling into the landfill parking lot.

They got out of the car and saw a portly man coming towards them.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth, my partner Temperance Brennan. We're here about the body."

"Right." The man said. "Right this way. My name's Bob Douglas. I'm the manager of this dump. Sorry about this but we're gonna have to wade through some garbage to get to her. Some other people are already there."

"Oh man." Booth said, looking down at his clean suit.

Brennan chuckled as she followed the man up the hill of garbage. Less than a minute later they were there, however both of their shoes and pant legs were covered in various types of garbage, including gum, food and other things that Booth didn't care to know what they were.

But as they got closer to the body, the smell grew stronger and he realized it wasn't the garbage.

"Oh god." Booth said, clasping his hand over his mouth and nose in a futile attempt to stop the smell that permeated in the air.

They were standing on a mound of garbage, looking down at the ravaged body of a young girl. There were flies everywhere, and maggots had invaded her body, worming their way in and out of her nasal and eye cavities.

Brennan on the other hand just looked puzzled. "Booth, she has skin. Why am I here?"

Booth didn't reply, just continued to watch the maggots desecrate the little girl.

"Booth!"

His head snapped up. "Right, uh, we'll take this to Cam."

"Get the forensics team to collect garbage samples for Hodgins. I'll take some pictures."

Booth nodded. "So clearly she died of strangulation. And she looks to be around ten years old. Anything else you can tell me?"

Brennan looked at him warily as she shifted from side to side, her feet slightly sinking into the garbage.

"C'mon Bones, I know you don't do skin but you can at least give me your thoughts."

"Okay. Well she was strangled as you said, though from initial observation it wasn't just the skipping rope that killed her." Brennan said. "See the marks below the rope? It's in the shape of a thumb. It's most likely that a hand was pressing down assisting the rope to make the strangulation go faster. There's also no defensive wounds, so it seems as if she didn't struggle, which is unusual."

"Unless she was sexually assaulted." Booth replied. "Sometimes predators of children like to lure them into false hope. Tell them that everything will be fine if they just let them continue. She probably didn't think she was going to die."

"Most people don't." Brennan mused. "As for being sexually assaulted, all of her clothes are still on."

"Time of death?" Booth asked, jotting down her answers in his black notebook.

"No more than two days judging from the state of decomp." She replied. "Hodgins may be able to narrow it down."

"Was she killed here?"

"It's unlikely. The garbage would make it difficult for the killer to maintain his balance while strangling her. It's more likely that she was dumped here."

"I'll go talk to the dump manager and see if I can an idea of who has dumped their garbage in the past two days."

She nodded and turned her attention back to the body, snapping pictures of the girl and the surrounding area.

It took several hours for the forensics team to do their jobs, but once all of the samples had been taken and the body shipped to the Jeffersonian, Booth and Brennan finally got in the car and made their way back.

"You okay?"

"Me?" Booth asked. "Fine, why?"

"Because you're gripping the steering wheel." She noted.

"Yeah, well.." he trailed off.

"We'll figure this out."

"Yeah, I know Bones." He sighed. "It's just…she was just a little girl you know?"

Brennan nodded.

Silence reigned until they got back to the Jeffersonian. Heading into the lab, Booth immediately knew the body had arrived by the smell that had entrenched the lab.

Already Zach and Hodgins were poring over the body.

"What've we got people?" Cam barked as she came on the platform.

"Body found in the dump." Booth said, as they headed towards the table.

"Strangulation." Cam noted. "Hodgins, can you get anything off the body?"

"I've already got samples of the surrounding garbage as well as several of the flies and maggots."

"Good, start with those. Get Angela to come and do a face. I'll do an autopsy." Cam replied.

"Once Angela has a face, let me know so I can contact the parents." Booth said.

"We'll call you." Brennan said, before turning and heading to her office.

"You heard the Doc." Cam smiled, wheeling the body to the autopsy room.

Booth just nodded and headed off to the Hoover building.

* * *

"Booth." He said, cradling the phone in one ear as he continued to type into the computer. His tie and jacket were off and there were several stacks of paper work on his desk.

"Tawny Michaels." Brennan stated.

Booth sighed. "Who are you talking about?"

"Our victim. Her name is Tawny Michaels. She's eleven years old. Reported missing yesterday by her parents, Fred and Sandra Michaels."

"Alright, I'll pull an address and come pick you up in five okay?"

"Okay."

Booth snapped his phone shut and saved the file on his computer. His paperwork would have to wait till another day.

* * *

She was waiting for him outside when his car pulled up. Wordlessly he handed her the file as she got in the car and he made his way to 7th Street.

"Glenn Dale?" she inquired. "Do they have a dump there?"

"Nope." Booth replied. "But Springfield does and that's only ten minutes away."

"So why would someone take the body all the way up to D.C. to dump it?"

"I don't know, Bones. But that's what we are going to find out."

They continued the half hour drive to Maryland in silence, Brennan perusing the file while Booth focused on the drive.

Finally they arrived in front of a red brick house. They got out of the car, Brennan noticing the pristine condition of the front lawn. They strode up to the door, pressed the doorbell and waited.

The door opened and a short, blonde woman looked out at them. Her eyes were rimmed red and her appearance was dishevelled.

"Yes?" she said hesitantly.

"Mrs. Michaels?" Booth asked.

She nodded.

"My name's Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan."

"Are you here about Tawny?" she said, her voice quivering.

"Yes. Can we come in?"

She nodded and opened the door further, letting them into the house. They made their way to the living room.

"Is Mr. Michaels at home?" Booth asked.

"He's at work."

"His daughter is missing and he's at work?" Brennan queried.

"Fred has a high stress job. It's very competitive. If he misses a day, then he misses out on some sales. We really need the money right now."

Booth nodded. "Mrs. Michaels, when did you first notice your daughter was missing?"

"Two days ago. She was supposed to be home right after school, but she never came home. You see, the school's around the corner, so we let her walk with her friends."

"I'm going to need a list of the friends she usually walks with."

"Of course." Mrs. Michaels replied. "I don't understand. I gave all this information to the police, why is the FBI involved?"

Booth turned solemn. "We found your daughter."

"You did? Is she…?" Mrs. Michaels trailed off when she saw the look on Booth's face. "No!" she sobbed. "Please, not Tawny. Please."

"I'm so sorry for your loss." Booth said. "Can I ask, was Tawny in trouble at all? Did she get along with everyone at school?"

"Tawny was a good kid." Mrs. Michaels replied, her voice thick with tears. "Everyone loved her. Nobody would want to hurt her."

"Has she ever been to D.C.?" Booth asked.

"Yes. We go on trips there all the time. Why?"

"She was found in D.C." Brennan said. "In the garbage dump."

"Oh god." Mrs. Michaels said, clasping her hand over her mouth. "Can I see her?"

"An investigation into her death is still in progress." She replied. "Once we've finished, we will release the body to you for burial."

Mrs. Michaels began to wail. "Oh god! Who would do something like this?"

"That's what we're going to find out." Booth said firmly. Both he and Brennan stood up. "We'll be in touch."

Exiting the house, they headed for the car.

"Let's stop by the police station to get the evidence they have gathered so far and then let's get back to D.C. It's getting late."

Brennan nodded. "So, the father seems suspicious."

Booth smiled as he started the car. "Is this a gut feeling?" he teased.

"Absolutely not." She replied. "It just seems suspicious because he is at work rather than at home, despite his daughter being missing."

"I agree."

"Plus the lawn was recently mowed and the garden was worked on." Brennan noted. "That seems an odd thing to do while your child is missing."

"Some people have different ways of coping." Booth said. "But we won't rule them out yet. Let's get back to the lab and see what Cam has. Maybe the killer stamped their name somewhere."

"It's not that easy Booth."

"I know." He said grimly. "But sometimes I wish it was."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ****Okay, here we go! Next chapter! I hope you all enjoy and please note the disclaimer. A few people to thank. Luli for helping me with exactly how far Kentucky is from D.C. among other things! And Ana, for reading through my chap! And thanks to all of you for reviewing! **

Disclaimer: This chapter deals with a subject that is of a sensitive nature.

**Chapter Two**

"This isn't Tawny Michaels." Booth commented as he looked down at the burned body that lay on the metal table.

"Local PD in Kentucky sent it up. Apparently it was found at Breaks Interstate park."

"How come I didn't know about it?" Booth protested.

"I just found about it when the body came in 20 minutes ago. I thought you knew."

Booth pulled out his cell and saw that he had three new messages.

"Never mind." He muttered. "So who is….it?"

"He," she emphasized. "was a male in his thirties to forties who was no discernable injuries."

"Other than the fact that he's a bunch of blackened bones?"

"It's likely Booth that he was burned alive. Wait…" she said, moving to the end of the table. "There are holes in his feet."

"Holes?"

"About a centimetre wide. See here?" she said, gesturing to the small, even hole on the sole of his foot.

"Gunshot?" he queried.

"Possibly." She said. "There's an exit wound at the top of his foot. And his right foot matches exactly."

"Okay so this guy was shot in both feet at close range and then burned alive?"

"If the bullet exited the top of his foot then it would've had to strike another part of his body."

"Unless he was strung up." Booth said.

"Even then, these holes seem too precise to be bullet wounds. And there are shards of metal around the feet. I'll get Hodgins to look at those while Zach cleans the bones. We should have an id for you tomorrow."

"What about Tawny Michaels?" he asked.

Brennan's face turned grim.

"Cam did the autopsy and discovered no additional wounds so its clear the victim was strangled to death. You were right about the sexual assault, however…"

"What?" he asked, thinking it couldn't get worse.

"It was post-mortem."

"Wait, are you saying this sick bastard strangled this little girl and then had sex with her?"

Brennan nodded. "He took the time to redress her as well. He's meticulous. There's no fingerprints anywhere, not even a strand of hair for DNA. There's only a trace amount of semen too. We sent it off to be tested, but it might not be enough."

"Dammit." He muttered.

"Necrophilia is considered by experts to be a valid sexual fetish, like sadomasochism, pony play…."

"Don't you think it's wrong?" he asked incredulously.

She nodded. "Booth, what this man did to this little girl is…." She trailed off. "We need to catch him."

"We will." He said firmly. "I've got Richards pulling all the convicted pedophiles from here to Glenn Dale. We need to question all of Tawnys' friends, school teachers, anyone who would have ideas about where she could've gone. Let's save that until tomorrow. I'll get started on the pedophile list. See you tomorrow?"

"Sounds good." She replied, already becoming immersed in her work as she looked over the charred body once more.

Booth headed outside, the bright sun a contrast to his dark mood. As he got into his car and pulled out of the parking lot, he couldn't help but contemplate the case. Why would anyone do that to a young girl? He had seen a lot in his work as an FBI agent but he always had a hard time with children's cases. It just seemed unreal that that kind of anger and violence was contained in one person.

As he drove along the streets of D.C., he went over the case in his head again. With little DNA, it would be very difficult to find the killer. Hopefully the interviews tomorrow would shed some light on the case.

Driving into his parking space, he turned off the ignition, got out of the car and made his way into the Hoover building. He had a long night ahead of him.

Three hours later, he rubbed his eyes wearily. Going through the list of pedophiles was getting him nowhere. None had connections to Glen Dale and none of them stood out as suspects. He grabbed his coffee cup and headed down to the break room, hoping that the coffee was at least passable.

"Hey Rick." He said, nodding to the other agent as he poured himself a coffee.

"Seeley." Rick replied. "How goes it?"

"Tough case. You?"

Rick nodded. "I've got a weird one, that's for sure."

"How so?"

"Construction workers come upon a body that's been shot once in the head. The bullet's still lodged in the forehead so we matched the bullet to the gun and brought the suspect in."

"How is this weird?" Booth asked, sitting down on the uncomfortable green tweed couch.

"The victims eyeballs were cut out. And the suspect? She's an eighty-seven year old woman."

"87? Wow."

"See, I thought the eyeballs part would be the thing that would first bother you." Rick noted.

"Believe me, I've seen much worse." Booth said, grimacing as he took a sip of his coffee. "Do you think she did it?"

"I don't know." Rick admitted. "I've got no witnesses, the victim's got no family or any other connections to speak with and I've got an old lady in the interrogation room who won't say a thing."

"Maybe she didn't do it."

"Maybe." Rick said. "But she hasn't denied owning the gun. That means someone she knows did it. What are you working on?"

"Pedophile case. Young girl found strangled in the dump. Oh, and I'm working a case about a man who was burned to death in Kentucky."

"Geez, they keep you busy." Rick commented.

"Yeah, well when you're partners with a forensic anthropologist, you tend to get a lot of bodies." Booth stood up. "I should get back to it. Catch you later."

"Yeah. Bye Booth."

He headed back to his office and slumped down in his chair, staring at the files in front of him. He was getting nowhere and he didn't like it. His phone rang and he immediately grabbed it, welcoming the distraction.

"Booth."

"It's me, Hodgins has found something."

"What exactly? And for what case?"

"The burned body. The fragments of metal appear to have caused permanent indentations on the bone. Hodgins analyzed the metal and found a small strand of nylon attached to several of the pieces which were fused together. He thinks weapon used on the feet was a spring loaded grappling hook."

"He was shot in the feet with a grappling hook?"

"Yes. The weapon would have fired the hook, causing it to go through the foot and out through the top, where the metal clamps would hook on to the skin."

"That sounds painful."

"Especially if he was dragged by his feet in that manner. Hodgins says there's indications that the body was dragged at least fifty feet. If he was conscious at the time, then it would be as if his feet were literally ripping apart."

"Ouch." Booth squirmed. "Please tell me these grappling hooks are uncommon."

"Hodgins is trying the narrow down the type right now. Once he has the correct one, I will send it to you and you can find out what stores in the D.C. area sells them. How's it going on your end?"

"The pedophile list isn't turning up much. Let's hope the interviews tomorrow reveal something."

"I'm sure they will." She said confidently. "What time are we leaving tomorrow?"

"Pick you up at eight?" he asked. "We can get a head start on the day."

"Sounds good."

"You will be at home right?"

"Actually, you can pick me up from the lab." She noted.

"C'mon Bones, its already eight at night. You really should take a break."

"Says the man who's still at work."

"I was just leaving right now." Booth said, getting up from his chair and grabbing his keys. He turned off the computer and walked out of his office.

"Right." She said. "Well I'm heading to the diner if you wanted to come."

"Sounds good Bones. I think pie will make today a better one. See you in five."

He snapped the phone shut and grinned. At least there would be one good thing about today.

**A/N: Wanna hear my thoughts on this chapter and researching necrophilia? Check out my livejournal in my profile which details my thought processes while writing this fic. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Finally! Here's the next chap! Sorry for the delay (new job and such) It's quite long (about 2500 words)and less gruesome than the previous chaps. But don't worry, that's coming back! Thanks to Ehbee and Red for helping me out! Thanks to everyone for the reviews, and I hope you enjoy!**

They settled into the diner, coffees in hand, saying nothing. When she looked at him, she could see the lines etched clearly on his face, making him look older than he was.

"You should sleep." She said simply.

He let out a chuckle. "You too." He replied, as the waitress placed a piece of cherry pie in front of him. He nodded in appreciation and began to dig in.

Both knew they wouldn't take each other's advice. Brennan would head back to the lab to examine the remains again for more evidence while Booth would continue to sift through the paperwork in hope of finding a pertinent clue.

Brennan stared into her coffee cup, deep in thought as Booth began to eat his pie. He looked around the diner at the people laughing and talking. It was hard to imagine that someone could savagely rape and kill a little girl. He didn't like to think about it but since the case began, he couldn't get it out of his mind. He'd seen a lot of horrific things in the FBI, not even including his army days, but this week seemed like too much. First the little girl, then the burned man…

A thought suddenly struck him. "What if they're related?"

"What?" Brennan said, looking up from her coffee.

"Our two cases." He said. "What if they're related?"

"Booth, they aren't similar in any way. They have been killed differently, they aren't the same type of people…"

"It just seems strange that we have two killers that are so unique." Booth mused. "But throw in eyeball person…"

"Eyeball person?" she queried.

"I was in the break room today and was talking to Rick, I mean Agent Wilders and he was telling me about his case. They found a body shot in the head."

"What's so unusual about that?" she asked.

"The person's eyeballs were cut out." He said matter of factly.

She shuddered as she recalled Hollings and Kenton.

"Think about it Bones, what's the likelihood of having three separate, very unique serial killers."

"The odds would be low, although serial killers usually follow a pattern. Their killings are usually the same."

"I know, I agree, this just doesn't seem to fit.

"Yeah." Booth said, taking the final bite of the pie. "It's something to think about though. Maybe I will keep in touch with Rick, see how it goes. In the meantime, we will head to Glenn Dale tomorrow to do the interviews. It's a long shot but maybe we will get something."

Brennan nodded, and Booth threw some bills on the table and they made their way out of the diner.

'_She must be really tired. She didn't argue about paying this time.'_ The thought to himself as he walked her to her car.

"Night Bones."

She smiled as she got into her car.

"Night Booth."

He waited until her car was out of the parking lot before getting into his own.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day they were in Glenn Dale by 9am and began the arduous task of questioning as many people as possible.

"Let's start with the school." Booth said, driving towards it.

Brennan just nodded, never taking her eyes off the case notes in front of her. If Booth was right, then they needed to find a link between the cases. They seemed so different and yet Booth had a point.

"Is Agent Wilders questioning the eyeball lady?"

"Yeah, he's doing that today. Hopefully she'll crack. In the meantime…" he said, pulling into a parking space.

"Question everyone." She answered.

They made their way out of the car and into the school. Once in the office, they waited patiently for the secretary to get off the phone.

"Sorry about that." She said, perkily. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan. We're here about Tawny Michaels."

"Oh!" she said, clasping her hand over her mouth. I heard what happened. Sandra and Fred must be devastated."

"We need to speak to Tawny's teacher and any other adult who had contact with her."

"That's going to be almost everyone. We're a small school."

Booth and Brennan looked at each other and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was nearly 1 pm when they got around to Tawny's teacher, having interviewed the staff in intervals.

"Agent Booth?" a young woman said, coming into the room. "I'm Willa Lawrence. I was Tawny's teacher."

"Please have a seat." Booth said, gesturing to the chair on the other side of the table. "Can you tell us about Tawny Michaels?"

"Yes. Tawny's been in my class for the past two years. She's such a bright child."

"Was there anyone who didn't like her? Did she have fights with any of the other kids?"

"Not at all. Tawny wasn't like that. She was the sweetest girl."

"You can't think of anyone who would try to harm her?" Brennan questioned.

"No." Willa replied, dabbing her eyes with a Kleenex. "I just can't. I mean there's no one in this town who would do such a thing. Glenn Dale is small. Everyone knows each other and there's a community spirit, you know?"

"What about Tawny's parents?" Booth asked.

"Mr and Mrs Michaels are very nice. And very attentive to Tawny. Sandra's on the PTA."

"What about Mr. Michaels?"

"He works a lot but he's still involved. I met him once and he seemed really nice. You don't think either of them had anything to do with it, do you?"

"We have to keep our options open." Booth stated. "Now I'm going to need a list of Tawny's friends."

Willa nodded and stood up. "I'll go do that for you now."

As she headed out the room, Booth sighed. "Well none of that was helpful."

"Maybe the kids saw something." Brennan said.

"Most likely. I'm going to call Child Services and see if we can get a child advocate here. Then we can question the kids without their parents. They may be more likely to talk without their parents in the room."

"I'll call the lab and get an update."

They both pulled out their cellphones and soon Brennan was talking to Angela about the burned man.

"Howard Walkerton." Angela said. "My sketch got a match. A wife and two kids, a pharmaceutical sales rep who lives in Elkhorn City. That's about 5 miles from Breaks Interstate Park, where he was found."

"Good job, Angela. Has Hodgins found anything else on the body?"

She heard a beep and then she was on speakerphone.

"I've found some dead Vejovis carolinianus fused with the remains that pretty much guarantees that the body was killed in the park."

"Can you explain that Hodgins?" Brennan asked.

"Oh sorry, Kentucky scorpions. They live obviously in Kentucky and are usually around loose bark and rocky areas, possibly near water. Looking at the crime scene, I didn't see any of this, only trees."

"Me either, but see if you can get topographical maps of the surrounding park area and see if there are any of the elements you described."

"Absolutely." Hodgins said. "But it's a big park, he could have been dragged from anywhere."

"Yes, but that would have left a mark would it not? Plus if the scorpions were on him when he died, he couldn't have been that far away from a water source."

"Good point, I will do the search."

"Send the data to my laptop when you've got it."

"How's it going there, Dr. Brennan?" Cam's voice came through the speakerphone.

"Nobody knows anything so far, but we are about to speak to the children. Did you discover anything else from Tawny's body?"

"Nope." Cam said. "I'm about to release the body to the parents."

"No we shouldn't." Brennan said. "Booth thinks the cases might be related. If so, we will have to re-examine her."

"Related?" Cam asked. "How so?"

"We don't know yet." Brennan said. She looked over to see Booth making hand motions at her. "I've got to go, but I will keep you updated." She snapped the phone shut. "What?"

"Child Advocate's coming in about half an hour. We need to go round up the kids and hopefully get a sandwich or something, I'm starving."

"You pulled me off the phone because you wanted a sandwich?"

"C'mon Bones." He said, flashing his charm smile at her. "You get crabby when you're hungry. I just want you in a good mood for the kids."

"Yeah, yeah." She grumbled as they made their way out of the empty classroom.

After speaking to the secretary about the list of kids, they made their way over to a small restaurant near the school and Brennan recounted everything that she had been told.

"Okay, I'll run a background check on Howard Walkerton. See what we can dig up."

"Maybe he has something to tie him to Tawny." She said.

"Yeah. It probably won't be that easy though." Booth said, flipping through the menu. He gestured to the waitress who immediately came over. "Yeah, I'll have the club sandwich and fries."

"Salad for me." Brennan said.

"And coffee." Booth added. "Lots of coffee."

Brennan nodded in agreement.

"So….." she said. "I saw my father the other day."

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it." Booth asked.

"Well, I don't have to, I mean.."

"No." Booth interrupted. "That's not what I meant, I…never mind, go on."

"He seems okay. I mean he's in prison but other than that. He wants me to be a witness for the defence."

"Listen, Bones, you know I'm going to be a witness for the prosecution, right?"

"Of course. Besides I turned him down. I can't be a witness for him."

"Why not?" Booth asked.

"Booth, the man killed people and set them on fire. I helped gather evidence against him. That doesn't make me a good witness for the defence."

Booth just shrugged his shoulders as the waitress came over with their food.

They ate in silence, Brennan munching on her salad as he ate his sandwich. It wasn't until he saw a hand reach out across that table, that he said something.

"Hey! Don't take my fries! If you wanted some you should have ordered some."

"I didn't know I wanted any." Brennan said matter of factly, as she stole another one. "Thank you by the way."

He just rolled his eyes and finished his sandwich.

"We should go." He said, glancing at his watch. "The child advocate will be at the school soon. Listen, Bones we have to have a lot of tact with this okay? Questioning kids is never easy."

Brennan glared at him. "I've questioned kids before Booth." She said, an undercurrent of anger in her voice.

He thought back to how good she was with Shawn Cook and the little girl from the beauty pageant case.

"Sorry Bones, I didn't mean it like that." He flashed her his charm smile, hoping that would get him out of trouble. He saw her expression soften and knew that it worked.

"Alright." She said. "Let's go interview the children."

After a 4 minute argument about who was going to pay, they were on their way back to the school. Parking in the same spot, they headed into the school, Brennan pulling her jacket tighter around herself. It was only the beginning of October, but the colder weather had started already.

When they reached the classroom, there was a woman waiting inside.

"You must be Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan." She said, reaching out her hand.

"Yes, you are?" Booth replied.

"Annie Beck. I'm the children's advocate."

"Okay, well do you know the basics of the case?"

Annie nodded. "And I've got the list of children to be questioned right here. The secretary will be bringing the first one in a few minutes."

And not more than a minute later, the door opened and the secretary and a little boy came in.

"This is Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan. They want to talk to you about Tawny okay?"

The boy nodded mutely and sat down in the chair.

The secretary just smiled reassuringly and made her way out of the room.

"Hi, my name's Agent Booth, what's yours?" Booth started off.

"Peter." The boy whispered.

"It's okay Peter, you're not in trouble, I just want to ask a few questions okay?" Booth said, moving around to sit on the edge of the table. "Did you know Tawny?"

Peter nodded.

"Were you friends with her?"

Peter nodded again. "She would pick me to be on her team." He said softly.

"Did you see any grownups talking to her? Other than teachers?" Brennan asked.

"No, you're not supposed to talk to strangers." Peter said.

"Okay well thanks for talking to us." Booth replied. Peter got up and left the room.

Booth sighed. "On to the next one."

The door opened and a little girl walked in.

"I'm Dr. Brennan and this is Agent Booth." Brennan stated.

"I'm Brianna." The girl said.

"Were you friends with Tawny?" Booth asked.

"Yes, we were best friends." Brianna said, her lip quivering a little.

"Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt her?" Brennan asked.

Brianna shook her head no as two fat tears rolled down her cheeks. "Tawny and I were supposed to be in the school play together. We had practiced and practiced our lines together."

"Do you two walk home together?" Booth asked.

Brianna nodded.

"The day she disappeared, did you walk together?"

"Yes." Brianna said softly. "We were supposed to go to my house to practice our lines, but when we got there, Tawny said she didn't want to anymore. So she left."

"And walked home by herself." Brennan stated.

Brianna nodded her head again. "I'm sorry. I should have made her stay with me, I'm so sorry." She burst into tears and put her head on the table.

"It's okay." Brennan said. "Brianna, look at me."

Brianna slowly lifted her tear stained face.

"This is not your fault okay?"

Brianna gave another sniffle as the tears continued.

"I think we're done here." Annie said, standing up and helping Brianna out of the room.

"So that cuts down on our time frame a bit." Booth said. "She was kidnapped somewhere between Brianna's house and her own."

"But other than that, we haven't got much."

"Well," said Booth, checking the list. "We've still got twelve kids to go."

Both glanced at the door and hoped that one of the twelve kids could give them a much needed break in their case.

* * *

References: 

Way too long to post here, so I will post them in my livejournal. The link in is my profile! Check it out!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Finally! Sorry about the delay, I was out of commission for five days with back problems. Tylenol 3's are not conducive to writing! A few people to thank:**

**Ana, for looking over my chapter and giving me ideas for the next one!**

**A2b, for being my #1 cheerleader**

**Ehbee, for her fantastic drawing (explanation at the end of the chapter)**

**That's it, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The twelve kids didn't provide anything new and soon Booth and Brennan were on their way back to D.C.

The next morning found them on the road to Elkhorn City to break the news to Howard's wife. They parked the car in front of the modest suburban house and got out.

"Listen, Bones, no mention of what actually happened, okay? We need to keep as much as possible to ourselves."

Brennan nodded as they made their way up the front walk. Pressing the doorbell, they waited. Finally they heard some shuffling and the door opened a crack.

"Yes?" the woman asked.

"Mrs. Walkerton? I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan."

"You're here about Howard?" the woman sniffled.

"Yes, can we come in?" Booth asked.

Mrs. Walkerton nodded and opened the door.

As they walked in, they were both struck by the state of the house. Mildly put, it was a disaster. There were papers and clothes everywhere, and there were several empty bottles of Jack Daniels spread throughout the room.

"Come in." Mrs. Walkerton said, gesturing to the couch.

They both gingerly took a seat.

"So tell me. Is he going to bring back the kids?"

"I'm sorry?" Booth said, confused. "Mrs. Walkerton, we're heard about the disappearance of your husband. Are you saying your children are missing too?"

"You didn't?…..Missing?" she choked out. "I thought Howard took them."

"Why would he do that?" Brennan asked.

"I was having an affair with another man. Howard found out and threatened to take the kids way from me."

"Mrs. Walkerton, I'm sorry to tell you, your husband is dead." Booth said.

"Dead, what, I?" she whispered. "But the kids…are they?"

"We haven't found them."

"O god, I can't…" Mrs. Walkerton put her head in her hands and began to wail.

"We need to get people to search the park." Brennan said softly.

Booth nodded. "Mrs. Walkerton, I'm going to need a list of anyone who might have a grudge against your husband, including your lover."

"Okay."

"We are going to take a look around the house okay?"

She nodded, reached under the couch and pulled out a bottle.

Brennan followed Booth up the stairs. "It's very dirty here."

"You take the kids room, I will take the master." Booth replied.

Brennan nodded and opened one of the doors.

The room was pink, with various pictures of people Brennan didn't know on the wall. She moved from the dresser, where several family pictures stood, to the desk. On it were some text books and several sheets of pages with various math problems on it. Everything looked like a typical 14 year old's room.

She moved to the boy's room, pulling open drawers as she surveyed the room in hopes of finding something out of the ordinary.

"Find anything?"

She turned around and saw Booth leaning against the doorframe.

"Just condoms. And a lot of porn."

"Typical 16 year old boy." Booth said.

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"What?" he stammered. " I was just saying…."

"There's no need for you to get embarrassed, Booth. Masturbation is a…"

"Can we get back to the case?" he interrupted.

She smiled and nodded. "Anything in the master bedroom?"

"Unless you count a lot of empty liquor bottles." Booth said. "Let's go search the park and interview the lover then head back to the lab."

They made their way down the stairs only to find Mrs. Walkerton passed out on the couch. After trying to rouse her for five minutes, during which she said fuck off and rolled over, Booth gave up.

"We'll have to get the name later."

"I guess we're heading to the park." Brennan said.

Booth sighed. He wasn't really in the mood to find the bodies of two kids.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Four hours later, they had come up with nothing. Two forensics teams and a swarm of FBI agents were scouring the park, but so far no sign of the two children had been found.

"Come on Bones, there's nothing more we can do here. I'll get Kress to call us if they find anything."

She stretched her arms above her head. "I guess it's back to the lab then."

Booth nodded.

The car ride was silent as they both went over the case in their heads. Never had they had a case like this before, with no leads and no signs of any coming in the future.

"Booth." Brennan said. "If Agent Wilder isn't getting anywhere with his eyeball lady, maybe we should question her."

Booth raised an eyebrow at her.

"If your theory is correct, not that I'm saying it is because we have no evidence, then we need to meet this eyeball lady in person."

Booth looked at his watch. "Let me give him a call, see if I can set something up for tomorrow."

Brennan looked out the window at the passing scenery. She had to admit that it was beautiful in this area. The leaves had changed colour and it lead to a brilliant array of colour across the land. It reminded her of when her parents used to take her and Russ apple picking as a kid. Even now she could smell the fresh apple cider that they had for sale.

"Bones, hey Bones?"

"Sorry, what?" she said, turning to Booth.

"I said Wilder says its okay if we come in and do the interview. You okay? You kind of spaced out there for a moment."

"I'm fine." She replied, looking out the window again. "I was just thinking about the case."

Booth knew that wasn't true but decided not to push it. One thing his partner didn't like was to be pushed.

Seven hours later, he pulled up in front of her apartment. She was sound asleep, her face pressed against the glass, a frown on her face.

"Bones." He said softly, shaking her. "Wake up, you're home."

"What time is it?" she said blearily.

"Just after 11."

"Sorry, should have stayed awake to talk to you."

"And I should have taken your advice about just taking a flight. That was a really long drive."

"It's true, we could have been back and questioned eyeball lady today." She commented.

"Yeah well, next time I promise. Pick you up tomorrow?"

She nodded and headed into her building.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She stared into the interrogation room in disbelief. Imelda Park was not your typical murderer. She wasn't even your typical gun owner. At 87, she was small and frail, unlikely to be able to shoot someone. Dressed in a long sleeved, faded print flowery dress, she looked like someone's grandmother.

The door opened and in walked Booth and another agent who she assumed was Agent Wilder.

"Rick, this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan. Bones, meet Agent Wilder." She leaned forward and shook his hand.

"Let me fill you in." Rick said. "Don't let the oldness deceive you. She's tough."

"I'm surprised she's still here." Booth commented. "I mean, only the gun is hers, right?"

Rick shook his head. "Forensics came back on the body, saliva was found on the eye sockets. We tested it against a glass of water that we gave her, the saliva was hers."

"Wait, she licked the eye socket?" Booth said disbelievingly.

"Cannibalism." Brennan said. "It's been around since the beginning of man. The first known account of cannibalism was seen by Christopher Columbus. His crew reported that the Carib West Indies tribe participated in ritualistically eating the flesh of other humans."

"Thanks for the history lesson Bones." Booth said. "But why would she eat an eyeball?"

"It could be ritualistic. Perhaps she felt this person was a sacrifice to god."

"Okay, God does not approve of cannibalism."

"God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, technically, while not cannibalism, its still a ritual."

"Okay, Bones, first of all Abraham didn't sacrifice Isaac, it was just a test and second of all, let's just go question her, okay?" Booth said exasperated.

"Fine." She said. "I don't know why you got mad. I was just pointing out…"

He shot her a glare as they made their way out of the observation room. Opening the door to the interrogation room, he ushered Bones inside.

"Mrs. Park?" Booth asked. "I'm Special Agent Booth and this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan."

Imelda shrugged as if she couldn't care less.

"Mrs. Park, did you shoot Ryan Payne?"

Imelda just smiled and said nothing.

Booth tried again. "Can you explain to me how your weapon got into the hands of a murderer then?"

"I don't know." Imelda said sweetly.

Booth stared at Imelda, trying to get something out of her. But the woman would offer no hint as to why she was involved. He decided to be blunt.

"Mrs. Park, did you cut out and eat Ryan Payne's eyeballs?"

Imelda's eyes widened. "How… I mean what are you talking about?"

"We found your saliva in the eye socket of the victim." Brennan said.

Imelda's gaze hardened. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"There's forensic evidence that ties you to the body, Mrs. Park." Brennan said. "It can't be ignored."

In a flash, Imelda grabbed Brennan's arm and tried to pin it to the table. "You….don't know…what you're…. talking about!" she said forcefully.

Booth leapt up and pulled her way from Brennan, noted the now-crazed look in the old woman's eyes.

Brennan for her part, wasn't concerned with what happened at all. She was too busy focusing on the tattoo that was revealed on Imelda's arm when her sleeve got pushed up. Staring back at her was a dark and penetrating eye.

* * *

**A drawing of the tattoo and all my references for this chapter are over at my livejournal. The link is in my profile! Check it out, its a pretty cool drawing!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Welcome to the next chapter! Woo, I'm getting faster. A note about this one, if you're squeamish, you might not want to read it. Thank you to everyone for their reviews, I really appreciate it. Thanks to Ana for the beta! And to Ehbee for the goat eye information!**

Booth found her in Angela's office, the two of them talking quietly.

"Like this?" Angela said, holding up a picture of an eye.

"Yes, but more like a portrait." Brennan replied.

"Ooh, very Kat Von D, you mean."

"Who?"

"LA Ink? It's this great show about a tattoo parlour. She used to be on this show called Miami Ink until this big blow out where…"

"Angela, focus."

"Right." She said, returning to her sketchpad.

"Knock, knock." Booth said.

They both looked up.

"Hi Booth. I'm just getting Angela to sketch the tattoo for me. Then we are going to match it with various iconography websites."

"We don't need to. She confessed." Booth stated. He recalled how after a half an hour of silence where he sent his partner back to the lab, Imelda asked for him and confessed to the crime.

"What?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah." He sighed, sitting down on one of the chairs. "It doesn't feel right to me either."

"What about the eyeballs?"

"She said she wanted to see what they tasted like. She cut around the eyeball with a knife and then scooped them out with an ice cream scoop."

"And there goes my love of ice cream." Angela commented.

"This doesn't make sense."

"This whole case doesn't make sense Bones. I have a feeling they're connected, but how?"

"Maybe the tattoo will tell us something." Brennan replied. "She could be covering up for someone."

"Yeah, or she could be a crazy cannibal eye lady." Booth muttered. "Have we got anything else?"

Brennan shook her head. "Cam's looking over Tawny again and I'm going to try to look at Howard Walkerton."

"We put a missing persons report out on the kids, so that might come up with something." Booth said. "In the meantime, what do we do?"

"We look at the evidence again." Brennan said firmly. "The answer has to be there. It's always there."

They looked at each other grimly. So far, the evidence wasn't giving them much.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He worked methodically with the bone saw, splatters of blood hitting his face. He reached out his tongue and licked his lips. This was followed by a familiar tightening in his groin.

God, he loved his work.

He continued to cut the legs and arms off the body, before cutting the torso in half.

'_One down, three to go.'_ He thought to himself.

Sometimes he preferred to have others do his work, but he really loved to do it himself. There was nothing like the rush of killing someone. He resisted the urge to masturbate, knowing he still had so much work to do.

Once he was done, he moved over to the woman. He loved to leave the children till last. They gave him a special thrill.

"And they will suffer in their own waste because they are not good enough to inhabit the earth." He muttered, the bone saw slicing through the arm of a brown haired woman.

A soccer mom.

He remembered how easy it was to get them.

Men,women and children were brought cowering before him. He would smile, a deliciously evil smile, as he thought of different ways he would dispose of them.

He liked variety. He could never understand why serial killers murdered their victims in the exact same way all the time. Didn't the Boston Strangler wish for a chance to blow someone away?

Plus, they always picked the same type of people. Jack the Ripper? You would have thought he would have gotten bored of prostitutes.

He continued to cut up the woman and felt the blood drench through his shoes. He loved the feel of blood swimming through his toes.

Finally he moved on to the children. A little boy and a little girl. He was indiscriminate, he loved them both. As he lowered the bone saw, the door burst open.

"What??!!" he shouted, turning off the bone saw and preparing to launch his wrath on whoever had disturbed him.

"They've got Imelda." The man said.

"They?"

"The FBI."

"Who in the FBI?" he said impatiently.

"His name's Special Agent Seeley Booth."

"Well…." He said, looking down at the dismembered bodies. "Maybe I should send him a present."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Booth wearily trudged up the stairs to the lab platform. It was late, past nine, and he came to see what the team had. He had spent several hours going through the paperwork only to find nothing to link the cases together. Then he spent another hour in front of Cullen trying to explain why they hadn't solved either case yet.

He looked around and couldn't find anyone, so he immediately headed to Bone's' office. When he got there, he saw his partner in a position that was unusual for her. She was sound asleep, her head resting on her desk. A frown creased her forehead and he knew she must be dreaming of something unpleasant.

"Bones." He said softly, shaking her shoulder. "Bones." He said a little louder.

"What." She said, her head shooting up.

"You should go home."

"No, I still have stuff to do." She replied, looking at her computer.

"How about this?" Booth suggested. "Let's go to Wong Foo's and you can fill me in on what you've found. Starting with that weird website you're looking at."

"The eye in the tattoo? It's a goat eye." She said. "Satan is often depicted with goat eyes and goat horns."

"Nice." Booth muttered. "Come on, let's go."

She put on her jacket and let him lead her out to his car. Maybe Wong Foo's would help them both clear their heads.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was large, but half hidden between a garbage can and a tree. It wasn't visible in the dark, but come morning someone would find it. And delicately placed on top was a homemade, gold-trimmed gift tag that read 'Special Agent Seeley Booth.'

* * *

**A/N: Wow, I wrote that and it creeped me out. References are as usual at my livejournal!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So here's the next chapter. Surprisingly not that gory. Now that the body counts hit, what, seven? I'll be focusing more on them solving the case. (not that there won't be gross parts.) Can I also point out that scary old guy on last week's episode was way scarier to me then my eyeball-eating lady! **

George yawned and took up residence at his usual post, the security desk on the first floor of the Hoover building.

It was 6 a.m. so the FBI personnel were just starting to trickle in. George liked his job working for the FBI. No one or nothing got by him. With the help of the massive metal detectors of course.

He had seen some pretty weird things in the last twenty-four years, working at the FBI. Bombs, crazy people, even a shoot out in the lobby once. His wife May thought he was crazy for continuing to work there, but he loved his job.

'Protecting the protectors.' He mused to himself.

He peered at the security monitors. Everything seemed to be okay. They didn't show the whole building, no, there was a whole security room for that.

But George kept an eye on the whole front lobby and about ten feet in front of the building. His eyes flicked to the cameras again and he noticed something on camera eight. Something, possibly a box, tucked away behind a garbage can.

"Morning, George."

He turned to see his compatriot.

"Hey Mike." He said distractedly. "Stay here will ya?"

He moved away from the desk and ventured outside. The cement was slightly slippery from last night's unexpected rain. Moving cautiously around the garbage can, he got a clear view of the packages.

There were two brown cardboard boxes. One of them appeared fairly untouched by the rain as it was sheltered by the tree.

The other though had been pelted by rain and the cardboard had turned to mush, revealing the box's contents.

And that's when George saw something that would make him quit that very day and never darken the doors of the Hoover building ever again.

The head of a seven year old boy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Booth stretched his arms over his head, yawning widely. He smacked down the alarm clock, which immediately went silent. Pulling back the covers, he sat up, putting his feet on the floor. He winced at the cold underneath him.

'I need to get a rug.' He thought to himself as he padded into the bathroom.

He looked at his scruffy self in the mirror and sobered, as thoughts of the case flew back to him. Sighing, he pulled off his boxers and stepped in the shower, turning on the water so it was just the right temperature.

He stood under the spray and shut his eyes. Plain and simple, this case sucked.

There were no leads, barely any evidence. Just an eyeball eating woman who many not have anything to do with the case in the first place. He sighed and his thoughts turned to his partner.

'She's probably already at the lab.' He mused.

They had spent last night together at Wong Foo's, first piecing together the case and then talking of other things. It was good for them. For about two hours he had gotten his mind of the case and he was sure she had too.

He knew she was annoyed that they hadn't even come close to solving the case. Hell, he was annoyed. And yet, there wasn't much more that they could do.

He was going to have to take the squints out for dinner after this case. They were working practically around the clock to try to come up with something.

As he rinsed out the shampoo, he thought about Parker. He had gotten Rebecca to let him have Parker this weekend, and he was determined to spend time with him, case or not.

Stepping out of the shower, he dried himself off and started to get dressed when his phone rang.

'Booth.' He answered.

"Agent Booth, it's Cullen. You need to come to the Hoover building immediately."

"What's going on sir?" he asked, as he reached into his drawer and pulled out a pair of striped blue and purple socks.

"It's better that I explain it when you are here."

"Right." Booth replied, shutting off his phone. He rushed through his morning routine and was out the door and in his car in five minutes. Driving down the road, he wondered what could be so important.

'Maybe something to do with the case.' He thought.

He pulled into his parking spot and headed into the building. It was then that he noticed all of the people milling around the front. There were agents and forensics people and…

"Cam!" he said, making his way over to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for this." She said grimly, pointing in the other direction.

And that's when Booth saw something that would be burned into his memory for the months to come and make him pursue this case doggedly, almost obsessively.

The head of a seven year old boy.

* * *

**References: Wait for it...None! All my imagination today. So I apologize to the FBI if that's not what your lobby looks like or what your security guards do!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Geez! Sorry for the delay! It's been so crazy lately! A few things to note. I've got some stories going on if you're interested. My new one is The Letter and I'm also writing Moments. Thanks to everyone for the great reviews, I appreciate it alot! On with the show!**

"God." Booth said, looking down at the pile of mismatched body parts and trying not to vomit.

"Yeah." Cam replied grimly.

"Who found them?" Booth asked.

"Security guard." Cam said. "We're going to have to send these to the Jeffersonian. The other box is ready to go."

"Other box?" Booth asked.

"There were two boxes."

"Both full of bodies?" Booth asked.

Cam nodded.

"So why was the case assigned to me?"

"Because of this."

Booth turned around and saw Cullen standing there, a grim look on his face. He was holding a tattered piece of paper. Booth looked down and his heart sank down to his feet. It was addressed to him.

"This doesn't make sense." Booth said, looking at the tag.

"Clearly, you've gotten too close." Cullen remarked.

"But that's it, we haven't even got a suspect…"

His eyes scanned the crowd, landing on Agent Wilder.

"Rick." He shouted, gesturing him over. Rick jogged up to them. "I want to talk to Imelda again."

"She has her arraignment next week, so she's in lock up. Why? You think she has something to do with it?"

"Maybe." Booth said cryptically. "I just don't know what yet. What are we looking at Cam?"

"Two kids, a woman and a man." Cam replied. "That's all I've got so far. Bodies are in six different parts; head, two arms, two legs and torso." She shifted through the body parts, gingerly picking them up one by one and packing them into body bags.

Booth didn't watch. Instead he turned around and informed Cullen that they would get to work on the case immediately. He didn't need to be told that this looked bad for the FBI. He turned back just in time to see Cam lift up the head of the adult male and place it in the body bag.

He paled, then turned and strode away, not hearing Cam call behind him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright, people. Let's get started. Do a facial reconstruction please, Angela. Hodgins, get to work on the particulates. I'm surprised there's no bugs."

"Whoever dumped this body, knew exactly what they were doing." Hodgins replied.

Cam nodded. "Once you've done the facial reconstruction, run it through the database for hits."

"His name is Charlie Macnaw. Booth said, coming into the lab. His hair was mussed up, as if he had ran his fingers through it over and over. "Susie's his wife. Their two kids are Gavin and Shelly."

"How do you?" Cam started.

"We were in the Rangers together." Booth replied calmly.

All of the squints became quiet, unsure of what to say.

"Do the facial reconstruction anyway, Angela." Booth noted, before he turned and began to walk out.

"Where are you going?" Brennan asked.

"I'm going to find this sick, son of a bitch Bones." Booth said before striding out of the doors.

"Oh my god…" Angela said.

"Angela, we need to focus. Just like this is any other case."

"This isn't any other case, Dr. Brennan." Hodgins pointed out. "We have bodies piling up everywhere."

Brennan nodded. "That means we need to go over all these bodies and compare them with the others, wounds, how they were killed, locations, everything."

The others nodded and everyone got to work.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She found him much later, sitting at the dinner, picking at a piece of pie. She slid on to the stool next to him.

"Coffee." She said, when the waitress asked her for her order. "You okay?"

"Yeah, Bones, I'm fine." He said wearily. His tone and manner suggested he was anything but.

"Tell me about Charlie." She said.

"Bones…" he protested, in a low voice.

"Booth." She replied calmly, staring back.

"We were in the Rangers together. Went through training together. We pushed each other you know? There was this one time on the march"

"March?" she interrupted.

"Yeah, part of our training was to go on marches. We were on this sixteen mile march and it started to rain. Of course we kept going, our commander yelling at us the entire way. I was soaked through, in a bad mood but Charlie…Charlie just kept cracking jokes the whole way. I wouldn't have gotten through it without him."

She nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"We made it to Kuwait together, did a couple of missions until I became a sniper. We kept in touch on and off throughout the years, he was a good guy, he didn't deserve this." He swatted at his coffee, rattling the cup and spilling some on the counter.

"This is not your fault." She said immediately.

"Really Bones?" he replied, his voice getting louder. "Because the gift tag says otherwise."

"Booth. We will get this person, you know that." She said firmly.

He nodded. They sat in silence for a few minutes, each deep in their own thoughts, until they were broken out of their reverie by the ringing of the cellphone.

Booth pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Booth."

Brennan watched as he talked to the person on the other end, his hand running through his hair again. He looked tired. She knew the feeling. She didn't sleep much last night either, instead running the case facts over and over in her head until she couldn't stand it.

It was then that she got out of bed and headed to the lab, poring over the bodies again at 3 am. But she found nothing. She got frustrated and did the only thing she knew. She pulled a body out of limbo and began the identification process; the slow, steady work keeping her occupied until she collapsed on her couch at 5:30 am from exhaustion.

"Hey Bones."

She looked up to see staring at her. She raised her eyebrow in question.

"Got a call about the grappling hooks. Bedford, Virginia. The man remembers a guy coming in a few weeks back."

"Let's go interview him then." She replied.

Booth paused.

"Booth." She said, placing her hand on his arm. "Cam's going to be a while."

He nodded and followed her out of the diner. After all, he still had a job to do.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Geez! It's been like three and a half weeks! I'm soooo sorry! Things got busy and crazy but now I'm back and should have another chapter for you in the next couple of days!**

Brennan said nothing as Booth sped to Virginia, practically breaking traffic laws. She didn't think he needed her chastising right now. Besides, she was running the case over in her head.

She hoped this lead worked out. The evidence was scant, and for once, Brennan was finding her job unsatisfactory. She couldn't focus, couldn't sleep, it was like the case was overwhelming her. Looking over at her partner, she knew he felt the same.

And now with the addition of victims that Booth knew, it made things more complicated. The ring of her cellphone shook her out of her reverie.

"Brennan." She answered. She listened as Angela spouted excitedly about her discovery of the tattoo that Imelda had. Brennan has already known that the eye was a goat eye, but Angela had found more than that.

"What?" Booth asked, looking at her curiously.

"Angela, send me an email with the website and the translation. In the meantime, pull all the information you can about cults in the last fifty years. I'll get Booth to get the FBI to send over their information as well." She snapped her phone shut.

"What?" Booth asked.

"Angela ran the tattoo through a computer program that cross checked it with various websites on the net. She had a few hits, one of them being the website she's about to send me."

"And it's a cult?"

Brennan shrugged. "Technically, there's no way of defining a cult without including both good and problematic groups. According to the dictionary, Catholicism is technically a cult."

"Okay, Catholicism is not a cult Bones and what has this got to do with our case?"

"She found a website that appeared to be an online community chat site, but had a line of Latin at the bottom that seemed out of place." Brennan replied, as she reached into the backseat of the car and grabbed her laptop.

"It's probably best if we pull over in a town. I'll get a better connection."

Booth nodded and continued to drive.

"So….. a cult? Are we talking David Koresh?"

Brennan looked at him soberly. "I hope not."

She was silent for a moment and he waited for her to continue.

"I helped identify bodies at Waco. Over 20 children were killed, most in the fire, some shot by the FBI."

"God, Bones….."

"If it's a cult, then we may be looking at more bodies." Brennan noted. "Plus, we need to dig into the victim's life. See if any of them came in contact with this website or the owners of it."

"I can't imagine Charlie in a cult." Booth mused.

"We need to explore everything." Brennan replied.

Booth nodded as he pulled into the parking lot of a hotel and restaurant.

"This good?" he asked.

She nodded and got out of the car. "Let's get something to eat and we can check out the website at the same time."

They made their way inside the restaurant and sat at one of the tables. Immediately, Brennan opened her laptop and booted it up.

After ordering their food, Booth scooted next to her to look up the website. They made their way past the chat portion to the bottom, where a single line of text said: 'Qui es immunda mos velieris in obscurum insquequo custodis patefacio lemma pro quisnam they es.'

"What does it mean?" Booth asked.

Brennan pulled up a translator service and popped the text in.

"Those who are impure will hide in the darkness until the keeper exposes them for who they are." Brennan said.

"Sounds cult-like to me." Booth replied grimly.

"Hopefully this man at the store will have a detailed description of whoever bought the grappling hooks."

Booth nodded. "In the meantime, I'm going to get the FBI team to pull apart this website and find out who the owners are."

He immediately got on the phone with the FBI while Brennan continued to research the website.

'Keeper exposes them, keeper exposes them….' She thought.

"Okay, I talked to Cullen, we are putting together a task force." Booth said.

"Good idea." She replied. "In the meantime, we should talk to Walter Rankman."

Booth looked at her confusedly.

"Dr. Rankman is one of the top cult anthropologists in the US." She elaborated. "He should have an idea about what kind of cult this is. In fact, he's probably heard of it."

"Heard of it? But nothing's been done?"

"Walter told me there's over 5000 'cults' in the US. Not that they can be defined easily. Some consider Alcoholics Anonymous a cult."

"Where does this Rankman guy live?"

"Connecticut." Brennan replied. "He's teaching at Yale. I will send him an email."

"Better yet, get him up here." Booth said.

She nodded, shutting her laptop. "We should get going."

"Yeah." He replied. "I'm not that hungry anyway."

After paying the bill, they made their way back on the road and soon arrived in Bedford.

"Here it is." Booth said, pulling into the parking lot. "Harry's Hiking and Outdoor Adventure store."

"Catchy name." Brennan said dryly.

The entered the store and made their way past the tents to the desk, where a man was waiting.

"Ready to go on an adventure?" the man asked.

"Ummm…no. My name is Special Agent Seeley Booth. I'm with the FBI."

"Oh right." The man said. "My name's Harry. Harry Trivet. I own this place."

"This is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan."

"Wait, Temperance Brennan?" Harry said excitedly. "I'm reading your book. I love the part where Andy's injured and Kathy shoots the bad guy, saving his life. It's so riveting!"

"Thanks." She said warily.

"Harry, I need you to tell me everything about this guy who bought the grappling hooks."

Harry nodded. "It was five weeks ago, I pulled up the receipt and checked. He came in and wandered around for a bit. Looked a bit suspicious. I thought he was going to steal something. But then he came up to the cash with some Capewells. It was strange."

"Capewells?" Brennan asked.

"Retractable grappling hooks." Booth and Harry said at the same time.

"Why did you think this was strange?" Booth asked.

"Because usually someone comes in to buy all their climbing gear at once. I've never had someone just come in and buy hooks before. Plus, he didn't seem like the adventure type."

"Can you describe him?" Booth asked.

"I can do more than that." Harry said proudly. "Here." He handed over a slip of paper.

"A credit card receipt." Booth replied.

"Signature and everything." Harry noted.

"Perfect. This is a big help. If I have any questions, I will call you."

"Glad to help." Harry said. "But before you leave, do you think you could sign my book, Dr. Brennan?"

"Uh…sure." She said, smiling politely and trying not to roll her eyes.

After signing the book, they made their way back to the car.

Booth grinned and held up the receipt.

"We got him, Bones."


	10. Chapter 10

**Here we go! Sorry for the excruiatingly long wait! Geez! I'd promise to be shorter next time, but I said that last time! A few people to thank: Luke, who helped me with computer stuff. He'll never read this story but I'm giving him a shout out anyway. Primarily to make Ehbee chuckle. Thanks to Flyers who helped me figure out a map of the U.S.**

And thanks to my beta Ana. Every comment she gives, makes this story better. So here we go! And thanks to everyone for their reviews!

"Alright, tell me you guys have more than I do." Booth said, swiping his card and making his way up to the platform.

"Possibly." Cam said.

"What's going on?" Brennan said, coming out of her office with Angela.

"Guys in cyber crime pulled the website apart. They traced the IP address to a domain website that hands them out like candy. Right now they are tracking down the domain owner. From there, they start searching each record for the person's credit card information. Then we can trace it to the killer. I've got a couple of guys tracing the credit card receipt from the hiking store as well. What about you guys?"

"Hodgins found a splinter on one of the bodies." Cam said.

"Which one?" Booth asked.

"One of the children." Hodgins replied, coming towards them. "It was miniscule but it was there. Lucky for us, it was a rare tree. _Cotinus obovatus_."

"Which means?" Booth asked.

"American Smoketree." Hodgins replied. "Very rare. Only found in a handful of states. I know it's not much, but it narrows it down."

"What states?"

"Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama."

"Can we narrow it down more?" Booth asked.

"I can. But it's going to take me a while." Hodgins said.

"Work that angle." Booth stated. "What else?"

"I've explored the chat room website myself and I can't find much." Angela commented. "I started going through some of the cult files as well. But I don't know what I'm looking for."

"What about the tattoo?" Brennan asked.

"It's actually kind of common." Angela noted. "The eye symbol has been used throughout history. First, there was the eye of Horus, otherwise known as the eye of Ra. It was known as the all-seeing eye and was a symbol of protection and royal power."

"So this cult is using an eye from Egypt?"

"Not just from Egypt, Booth." Brennan pointed out. "Eye symbology is everywhere."

"Even on the dollar bill man." Hodgins piped up.

"Then of course, there's the evil eye. People believe that if someone gives them the evil eye, they will be cursed." Angela noted. "I think, personally, it's a little overdone. This cult doesn't have a lot of originality."

"Okay. Scan it and email it to me and I will give it to the guys at headquarters. See if we can cross-reference it with any cases in the past. What about the bodies?" Booth asked.

"There's not much." Cam admitted. "Despite the violence of the crimes, the killer was meticulous. There's not a shred of DNA on the body. Or any other type of evidence. "

"That's unusual." Brennan commented. "We always find something."

"This guy knows what he's doing." Booth said. "He's done this before, maybe in a professional setting. What time did you say that cult guy was getting here?"

"Within a couple of hours." She replied.

"Okay. Let's go over the bodies and what we know. Victim #1. Tawny Michaels. She was walking home from school and was snatched. Nobody saw anything. Found in a D.C. garbage dump. She was sexually assaulted."

"Post-mortem." Brennan interrupted.

"Like I could forget that part." Booth muttered. "The background check on the parents came back clean and they both had alibis. No suspects. Victim #2. Howard Walkerton. Found burnt to death at Breaks Interstate Park. Unlike Tawny, his body wasn't moved much. He was killed at the scene of the crime. He was however strung up with grappling hooks. He's got two missing kids; we haven't heard anything about them."

"Victim #3." Brennan continued. "Ryan Payne. Shot in the head and had his eyeballs removed by Imelda."

"Who has this crazy tattoo of a goat eye which is very cult-like." Booth said. "Victim #4." He paused, trying to form the words that were so difficult for him to conceive of. "Victims #4,5,6 and 7. Charlie Macnaw, his wife and two kids. Cut up and deposited on the FBI doorsteps."

"We are still trying to figure out what killed them." Cam noted. "We should get the test results in an hour."

"What do they have in common? They have to have something in common." Booth said.

"Not necessarily." Brennan pointed out. "Cults recruit from all different types of people in order to have well-rounded group."

"Good point." Cam noted.

"Dr. Brennan?" Zach asked, swivelling around in his seat by the computer. "Could I get your help?"

"What is it?"

"Tawny Michaels. I was looking at her body again and I think I found something. A bone dimple."

Brennan walked over to the screen, where Zach was displaying a portion of the skull.

"Magnify."

She tilted her head slightly as she looked at the enlarged image. "It's too even to be a bone dimple."

Zach nodded. "I concur."

"Match this with whatever weapons you can think of. Booth and I are going to meet with Dr. Rankman. Hopefully he'll have some more information."

"Good." Booth said, clasping his hands. "This is good."

"It is." Brennan said, firmly. "We're finally getting somewhere."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the delay, I was sick with the flu! **

"Walter." Brennan said warmly, shaking the older man's hand . "This is my partner, Seeley Booth."

"Nice to meet you." Walter said. "So you're the reason Tempe chases after bad guys and writes books instead of doing research?"

"Well, um…I…" Booth stumbled. Brennan just rolled her eyes.

"Have a seat." Walter said, gesturing to the chairs beside him. They were in a restaurant inside a hotel. There were very few people around which was a good thing.

"I got your email, Tempe. Sounds interesting. This tattoo made you think cult?"

Brennan handed over a print out of Angela's drawing.

"Hmm, definitely cult-like. I got the data you sent me about the killings. They are completely random and yet I can see how you would think they are interconnected. There's something there. Especially with this eyeball victim."

"I need you to tell us about what we're dealing with, if this is a cult." Booth commented.

"That could take years, Agent Booth. This is my life's work. If it is a destructive cult, you need to be careful. Those in destructive cults don't see past what their duty is. They are blinded by the love of God, the devil or whoever or whatever they believe in."

Walter paused and took a sip of water. "There are five main characteristics of a cult. The first is the authoritarian pyramid structure. There must be a leader at the top, much like our own society. There are rules and regulations that must be obeyed.

The second is the messianic leader. He, and it's usually a he, although there have been known to be a few female leaders, is charismatic and cunning. He's charming and devious, able to snare many followers with his words and his looks. There are fifteen traits that make up a cult leader and the primary one is lack of remorse."

"Of course." Booth muttered.

"Obviously, another characteristic is deception, but isolation is more important, whether it be physical isolation from society, like a Koresh or even Charles Manson, or a mental isolation. A cult is your family. They tell you what to do and how to live every aspect of your life."

"So how do we make the link from our cases to this cult?" Brennan asked.

"Without physical evidence?" Walter noted. "I'm not sure. We need to determine whether this is a religious or non-religious cult. That will narrow the options down. I can't say I've heard of these people, but I've probably come across them in my studies."

"Unless they are new." Booth pointed out.

"Unlikely." Walter replied. "Think about it. When you first join a church, do they baptize you right away? No. These people who are killing for him are probably long standing members of his cult. And since you think that each body has a different killer, than I think you're looking at a cult with about 40 members. Small enough to get under the radar, but big enough to do serious damage."

"Why the killing?" Brennan asked. "What is the purpose of that? Just for fun?"

"If a cult believes that the person is getting in their way they can kill them. Some cults believe that by killing people they are letting their soul escape and go to heaven. However, given the state of the bodies; cannibalism, necrophilia….I would have to say he probably does it for enjoyment. Garners satisfaction out of taking a life or watching others do his bidding for him."

"What about the quote?" Booth asked.

"Oh, the quote." Brennan said, pulling out a piece of paper. "Those who are impure will hide in the darkness until the keeper exposes them for who they are."

"Hmm, sounds vaguely religious to me, but at this point, I don't want to rule anything out. What I can do is put together a couple of likely profiles of the suspect based on the information you gave me."

"That would be helpful." Booth commented.

"At this point, there's not much I can do. I won't be able to help you narrow them down a lot, that's for sure. There are a lot of cults out there."

"Anything you can do helps, Walter." Brennan noted.

"So..." Walter said, shifting the topic. "I heard that you turned down that Oxford position. Is that true?"

"I already have a job." Brennan stated.

"Clearly." Walter said, looking pointedly at Booth.

"What?" Booth asked.

"Nothing." Walter said. "Well, I should get to work. The day's wasted unless there's some good, quality research in there, right Tempe?"

Brennan nodded and smiled.

"We may need you later, Walter." She replied.

"Oh, that's fine. The university pays for me to do these fun little trips. Adds a little fun to a dodgy old professors life."

Brennan smiled and she and Booth stood up. "Thanks Walter, I really appreciate it."

"Yes, thank you." Booth chimed in, shaking the man's hand.

"If you ever need a change of pace, Tempe…."

"I have a job." She said firmly. "But thank you."

They turned and left the hotel. She could feel Booth eyeing her the whole way. It wasn't until they got in the car that he said "Oxford?"

"What? They wanted me to teach there, I turned them down."

"You turned them down because you would miss me right?" Booth replied, flashing his charm smile.

"I would not." She said pointedly.

He grin got wider if that was even possible. "You so would. You would miss me." He teased.

"Can we talk about the case?" she said, crossing her arms and looking annoyed.

"Sure." He replied. They chatted about the case all the way back to the lab.

"Don't worry Bones." He said, slinging his arm around her shoulders as they walked into the Jeffersonian. "I would have missed you too."


	12. Chapter 12

**Well I have no excuses this time! I hope people are still reading this. The good news is, that I sat down and made an outline this weekend so I know exactly what's going to happen. Hopefully that makes posting quicker! The other good news (if you like this story) is that its going to be approximately 43 chapters long! So look for lots of twists and turns! I hope you enjoy!**

"I can't do it man, sorry." Hodgins said.

Booth groaned. "No, that's okay, it's just we are running out of options."

"What's going on?" Brennan asked, coming up on the platform.

"I can't narrow down the instances of American Smoketree. I'm sorry, the possibilities are just too endless." Hodgins noted.

"That's fine." Brennan said, earning a sharp look from Booth.

"What, Booth, if Hodgins can't help, then we should shift our focus elsewhere."

"Like where?" Booth asked.

"I know you're getting frustrated…"

"You're damn right, I'm getting frustrated." Booth said, his voice rising in anger. "These people, they killed my friends. They strangled a little girl to death. They burned a man and strung him up."

"And we will figure out who did it." Brennan replied. "But we need to do this methodically. Zach's working on the bone dimple, that could give us something."

Booth nodded. "I'm going to go and see how the cyber crimes unit is doing with the website. And maybe there's a hit off the receipt." He headed off the platform, Brennan following behind.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm coming with you." She stated.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Look Booth, I'm your partner, remember? We're supposed to do things together."

Booth looked sceptical but just nodded, and they made their way out of the building.

"Are you sure you're not just watching me to make sure I won't blow up or something?"

"Well, that too." She replied, giving him a soft smile as they got in the car.

"I'm sorry." Booth said immediately, pulling out of the parking lot. "This case frustrates me. We have very little forensic evidence, we don't even know who this head guy is, we've got multiple killers…"

"It frustrates me too." Brennan replied. "I've rarely had cases with this little forensic evidence. This person is meticulous. But we just need to be persistent. The evidence is there somewhere. We will catch this guy."

"I know we will, Bones."

After a few minutes of silence, she felt the need to change the subject.

"How's Parker?"

"Fine, I guess. I haven't seen him in a while, its complicated."

"Rebecca shouldn't do that." She said quietly. "Not let you see him I mean."

"Yea, well its not like I get a say in the matter is it?" he said harshly. He softened his expression at the sight of her face. "Sorry Bones, I didn't mean….I mean thanks."

He pulled the car into a parking space and they got out and headed into the Hoover building.

"No problem Booth."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sorry Booth." Agent Adami said. "We can't find the web owner. The guy paid the domain through Paypal, then shut the account down. We traced the Paypal account to the guy's bank account, but it turned out to be from Western Union. We are contacting them right now to figure it out."

"That's fine." Booth muttered. "I'll be in my office. Let me know."

Booth stalked off to his office, Brennan behind him. They had just got to the door, when they heard a shout behind them.

"Booth, here's the name for that credit card receipt. His name's Miller Wheats. He was sent to jail a few years ago for attempted robbery. He lives in Inez, Kentucky." The agent said.

"Kentucky. Where Howard Walkerton was killed." Booth noted. "Do you have his file?"

"Yes." The agent handed it over to him. Booth nodded and he and Brennan made their way into his office.

"So this guy goes all the way to Virginia to pick up some grappling hooks then heads back to Kentucky to kill Howard Walkerton?"

"Makes sense, Booth, if he couldn't get the right kind of grappling hooks he wanted."

"Or that the leader wanted." Booth surmised.

"You don't think he's the leader?" Brennan asked.

"Do you?" Booth answered. "I mean, caught by a credit card receipt? That's too easy for him. He would be smarter than that."

"I agree." Brennan said.

"So now we bring in Mr. Wheats here and see if he will confess to something. Get the goods on this cult leader."

"It's going to be hard." Brennan said. "People who are members of cults are taught not to disobey their leaders for anything. They would rather die then reveal their religion's secrets."

Booth nodded. "Yeah, but Miller's been in jail. I'm sure if we threaten him with lots of jail time, he might crack."

"Let's hope so."

Booth sat at his computer for a moment, typing. "Inez is only an hour away from Elkhorn City."

"That means that it was most likely Miller who picked out Howard as the victim." Brennan noted.

"That's the thing I don't understand. How did they pick these victims? Were they trying to recruit them and it went wrong? Were they just picked off the street? Tawny seems like she would have been plucked because she was a cute kid, but Howard?"

"Recruitment makes sense Booth. In fact, that makes a lot of sense." Brennan replied.

"You look like you're about to solve a puzzle." Booth noted.

"Think about it. Howard Walkerton leaves with his kids because his wife was cheating on him."

"And she's a drunk." He interjected.

She nodded. "They look for a place to settle and they meet Miller Wheats, who sees a new recruit. Howard and the children get involved, but then Howard decides that he doesn't want to be a part of this cult, so they kill him. Most likely, the children are alive."

"You mean the kids are part of this cult thing?"

"Children are often an important factor to cults because they are easier to manipulate. Plus, they sway the parents because most parents wouldn't want to leave their children behind."

"So they are safe?" Booth asked.

Brennan shook her head. "I'm sure they are alive. As to what ritual behaviour they've had to endure, it depends on the cult. Most likely a lot of sexual assault, especially with the girl."

"Dammit." He cursed. "Well let's hope Miller has answers."

"Yes. Let's hope he does." Brennan replied soberly.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: So here it is, finally the next chapter! Sorry for the delay, I lost my job and my muse went into a coma! However I revived her and she wrote this chapter. A couple of notes. In the previous chapter, I stated that Miller Wheats was younger, but I changed my mind so I edited that chapter. **

**Thanks to Ana for the fantastic beta work and all of you for reading and reviewing!**

Brennan always felt uncomfortable during interrogations. She wasn't good at them, not like Booth. This was Booth's talent and she wished she had a fraction of it. The way he stared into the eyes of murderers and didn't flinch, how he read their body language to determine if they were guilty. It was something that he took for granted but she thought was as impressive as her being able to 'read' bones.

Now as she stood in front of the glass, waiting for Miller Wheats to be brought in, she hoped that he wouldn't be too much of a challenge for her frustrated partner. This case was getting more and more complicated and with the addition of Booth's friends being some of the victims, it made it worse.

She saw Miller enter the interrogation room. He was average height, average weight, average in general. He walked a little slowly, as if he'd been injured. Booth was right. He definitely wasn't the leader. He didn't carry himself like that for one thing.

He wasn't confident enough. Researching cult leaders, she had discovered that the leader always had this charismatic style, one that would entice people to join him. Miller didn't have that.

"Ready?"

She turned and looked at Booth and nodded. They made their way into the interrogation room.

"Miller Wheats? I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan."

Miller just scoffed and crossed his arms.

"What do y'all want from me?"

"Miller, you seem like a nice guy to me." Booth remarked. "Good job, steady income. Tell me about where you like to hike."

"Scuse me?"

"Hike." Booth commented. "You like to hike right? Climb mountains and such?"

"Well….I…"

"Because I have a credit card receipt with your signature saying you purchased some Capewell retractable grappling hooks. Now that's some serious equipment for these parts. You wouldn't need Capewells unless you were climbing Everest."

"Grappling hooks are used for other things." Miller snorted.

"Yeah, they're used for military operations, mostly training. I was a Ranger in the army, did some missions in Kosovo. What about you?"

"'Nam." Miller said gruffly.

"Quite the fight." Booth remarked. "Soldier?"

"Paratrooper."

"Tiger Force right?" Booth asked. "101st Airborn. You guys were the best."

"I reckon we were." Miller said. "But what's this got to do with anything?"

"Were you at Song Ve Valley?" Booth asked.

"I don't understand…"

"Is that where you got your taste of killing Miller? Doesn't ring a bell? Song Ve Valley? The Tiger Force unit was investigated for war crimes for cutting off the ears of civilians and keeping them, scalping, raping, torture... Is this where you started to like it? Is that why you tortured Howard Walkerton?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Miller said firmly.

"We found a body Miller. Howard Walkerton. He was shot in the feet with grappling hooks, strung up and burned alive. Does that sound familiar to you?"

"No."

"So why is it that the grappling hooks in his feet match the ones you bought?"

"I reckon it's a coincidence."

"A coincidence?" Brennan noted. "That's too much of a coincidence."

"Who are you anyway?" Miller asked. "Why you here?"

"She's my partner." Booth answered. "Now…let me tell you a little story, Miller. You stop me if you don't think its true. You come back from Vietnam, bad taste in your mouth and you settle down in Inez for a while. But things just aren't right, are they Miller? Cuz you've developed a taste for blood.

You wandered from job to job, even tried to rob a bank but nothing worked. Nothing scratched that itch, did it? So you had to go and kill Howard right? Did it make you feel important again?

"I don't know what you're talking about." Miller said, stony-faced.

"C'mon Miller, why did you drive all the way to Virginia for some grappling hooks, huh?"

Miller sat back and said nothing.

"Fine." Booth said. "Feel free to sit there as long as you like. We've got your signature on the receipt and we know you bought those grappling hooks which were used on Howard Walkerton. If you don't want to make a deal, that's fine with us."

He got up from his seat and headed out, Brennan following him.

"That's it?" she said.

"For now." He replied. "Let's head to the lab and see if they've got anything."

They made their way to the car, both deep in thought.

"I hate guys like that." Booth muttered, as he started the car.

Brennan looked over at him questioningly.

"Dragging the army through the mud like that."

"Booth it's quite common for abuses to happen during times of war." Brennan noted. "It's a side effect that people do not realize. Tiger Force, My Lai, Abu Ghraib. Soldiers are thrown into situations they can't handle and lash out.

They look for a place to distribute their rage. This is why spousal abuse is so common amongst soldiers wives. Not to mention the possibility of suicide. Last year 121 soldiers killed themselves."

"I know that Bones." Booth said, gripping the wheel. "It's just….not all soldiers are like that. They are good men."

"I know Booth." Brennan replied, looking over at him. "I know they are."

Booth pulled into the parking lot at the Jeffersonian and soon they were in the lab.

"Dr. Brennan, we've found something." Zach said. "Angela's running some possibilities through the Angelator."

"Perfect, Zach." She replied, as they followed him to Angela's office.

"The bone dimple that I found was from a weapon." Zach noted. "I examined the skull again and found another one, same size but barely an indent."

"Two?" Brennan asked.

"Yes, see, here and here." Zach replied, holding up the x-rays.

"So Tawny was struck twice." Booth said.

"Not necessarily." Brennan replied.

"Tawny was 4'9. In order to strike her head at the top point, which is near the top of her skull, the killer would have had to be at least 5'7.

"Miller's only 5'5." Booth noted.

"It's likely there's another person." Brennan noted. "It makes sense with what Walter said. There's no way that Miller Wheats is doing all the killing for this guy. Plus, Imelda killed Ryan Payne. So it's likely that there's another person out there who killed Tawny."

"But this thing that hit her only knocked her out right?" Booth asked. "Because she was strangled."

"Yes." Zach replied. "I think it's a weapon with more than one point."

"If that's true the weapon would have to be 7.32 inches." Angela said.

"And most likely curved." Brennan noted.

"So an axe?" Booth asked.

"That's a possibility." Brennan replied. "But it needs to be a speciality axe. Zach, I need you to determine the weight of the axe by assessing the bone dimples. Once you have all the variables, start a search for weapons that could match. Don't limit yourself to modern weapons, we are probably looking for something more specialized. Look at medieval tools, as well as weapons from other countries."

"Yes, Dr. Brennan."

"Why would Tawny be struck with a medieval weapon?"

"Maybe it has some significance towards the cult?" Angela pointed out. "Cults often have special items that are used in ceremonies and such."

Booth smiled. "If the weapon is a speciality one then it will be much easier to trace."

"Exactly." Brennan noted.

Booth's cellphone rang and he walked out to answer it.

"How's he doing?" Angela asked.

"He's frustrated." Brennan replied. "But he's Booth, he's fine. I just wish we had more evidence to give him."

"Me too Bren." Angela said. "This case, what they did to these people…"

"There's no trace of his credit card on the website, nothing to tie him to the site." Booth said, coming back in.

"We know he bought those grappling hooks." Brennan noted.

"Yea but it's not enough Bones. Even if that helps convict him, he's not the guy we're after."

"I wonder if he has a goat eye tattoo." She said. "If we could find out, that at least ties him to Imelda right?"

"Good idea Bones." Booth replied. "Let's go question our friend again."

"Angela, call me if you find out anything." Brennan said.

"Absolutely." Angela replied, watching the two partners stride out of the room.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Welcome to the mind of a very sick individual…**

His hands gripped the sides of the chair, making his knuckles turn white. A bead of sweat rested on his forehead, threatening to fall.

His eyes were dark and unflinching as he waited. Waited for the news he already knew. His lips vibrated slightly as he hummed his favourite tune. A knock at the door made him turn his head.

"Come in." he commanded.

He was nothing short of a commander to these people. They looked to him for guidance, for purpose in their lives. He made them whole.

"S…sir?" the man said, moving to stand in front of him.

"Yes?"

"Miller's in custody. Something about the grappling hooks?"

His eyes narrowed. "Both Imelda and Miller?"

"Yes. We're working on a plan…"

"Be quiet." He thundered. "How did you let this happen? My people are being scattered."

"Maybe we should…"

"Maybe we should what?" he said in a low voice. "Stop helping people step in the light?"

"No, well…I…"

He was up from his chair and in front of his follower in less than a second. Like a lion, he stalked around, looking for the best vantage to strike. Still humming, he watched as the man shut his eyes, a lone tear rolling down his cheek.

He smiled and before his follower could act, he shoved the knife concealed in his sleeve in his lower back.

The man screamed as the song played in his head.

'Son can you play me a memory? I'm not really sure how it goes…'

He stabbed him again, imagining the steel blade slicing through his flesh, like a tenderized piece of meat. That's all humans were. Meat.

"Did you say something to them? To anyone? Is that why the cops have a hold of Imelda and Miller?"

"No, I didn't, I didn't." the man sobbed as he fell to the ground, clutching his wound.

"Hmm…." He replied, watching intently. He liked this part. When they would touch the blood coming out of themselves as if they were surprised that it was inside them. He liked blood. It bubbled and gurgled and flowed like oil on the floor of a mechanic's garage he used to play in when he was kid.

He yanked his head up and began to slice his ear off slowly.

"la la la, lili la la, la la la didi la," he muttered under his breath.

The man howled in pain and his continued his methodical cutting. First one ear and then the other. Cartilage was always tougher to cut through.

Stabbing the man once more in the chest, he let him go, moving to the side to remove his socks and shoes.

He never liked wiggling his toes in the sand. It bothered him, those little granules of sand getting wedged in his skin. But this, this he loved. He moved closer but not quite close enough, teasing himself a bit. His pants tightened and he began to get excited for it to come.

Reaching for the knife, he pulled it out of the man's chest and began stabbing him over and over, hoping to enlarge the pool of blood the man was kneeling in.

He put his hand over the man's mouth to quench the moans and cries and he stabbed him in the chest over and over again, blood spattering his face and hair.

And then, then the blood touched his toes and he became so aroused he started shaking. He just need a little bit more from him, just a little bit…

But his follower had disobeyed him again and had died before he could achieve his sexual release. He let go of him with disgust, the knife still protruding from his chest.

"SUSIE!" he yelled.

The door creaked open.

"Yes? What…what happened to Ellis?"

"He could not see the light and betrayed us all." he replied. "I need you to go get the girl, the untouched one. She needs to be brought into the light to see the good and pure that is here. Go get her Susie."

Susie nodded meekly and turned and left.

He smiled. He could finish with the girl. She would give him the sexual release he needed to continue his work. He chuckled and began to sing under his breath.

"Sing us a song, you're the piano man….."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Do you hate me? I'm SO SORRY for the lateness of the chapter. Life just got in the damn way! I hope you like this chapter, a little reprieve from the blood and guts! **

Booth sat waiting outside of his boss's office, a feeling of nervousness swirling in his belly.

He was rarely called to a special meeting with Cullen. It usually meant he was being reprimanded for something. He couldn't think why though. Things were going fine at the lab; he hadn't done anything stupid lately.

"Special Agent Booth?"

He looked up to see Cullen's secretary gesturing at him.

"You can go in now." He said.

He nodded and made his way inside, only to be met with Cullen's stern face.

"What's the update on the Tawny Michaels case?" He asked gruffly.

"We're working on some possible suspects." Booth replied.

"Why is Dr. Brennan taking so long with her analysis?"

"She's done."

"So why are you holding on to the body?" Cullen asked.

"Because we believe that Tawny Michaels may be linked with the other bodies."

"Really?" Cullen said sceptically. "Because the girl's parents are calling everyone in the FBI, demanding the release of their daughter."

"There's possibly a connection." Booth said.

"Possibly?" Cullen replied sharply. "If there's no evidence Booth, we will have to release the body to the parents."

"Sir, think about how much worse it would be if we have to exhume her later?" Booth argued.

"What makes you think the cases are related?"

"Tawny Michaels was sexually assaulted after she died, not before. That's not your average pedophile. At first we thought the case was separate. But then we got the other bodies. Howard Walkerton was shot in the feet with grappling hooks and then strung up and burned alive. Then Agent Wilders had someone whose eyeballs were removed with an ice cream scoop."

"I thought there was a killer apprehended in that case." Cullen noted.

"There was." Booth replied. "We went to question her just in case. During the interrogation, we noticed she had an unusual tattoo. In short sir, we think Tawny Michaels death may have been part of several cult killings."

"Cult?" Cullen said. "That isn't good."

"We're working as fast as we can sir."

"The boxes of body parts. Do those tie in too?"

"Possibly." Booth answered.

"Unfortunately, that's not good enough." Cullen stated. "I want you to treat these cases separately until you find some concrete proof. I will talk to Mr. and Mrs Michaels and try to delay them for another week, but after that, I will have to release the body."

"I understand sir." Booth replied.

"That's all."

Booth nodded and head out of the office.

Great. Now all he had to do was solve the whole case in a week.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brennan was completely frustrated. She had looked over the bodies once again in hopes of finding something, however there was nothing to find. Zach was still researching the weapon, so hopefully that would lead them somewhere.

Right now all she could do was wait. And waiting was something Temperance Brennan was not good at.

She had called Booth but it had gone to voicemail. She'd pulled up her book and stared at it blankly, shutting it down fifteen minutes later. The main tables were all being used so she couldn't work on limbo bodies and although there was a large stack of paperwork on her desk, she didn't feel like doing it.

Looking outside her office window, she saw her partner striding towards her, looking just as frustrated as she was.

"Hey Bones." He said wearily, plopping himself down on the couch.

"Hey." She replied. "You okay?"

"Fine. Anything new here?"

She shook her head.

"Let's get out of here." He said, gesturing to the door.

"Leave?"

"Yeah, Bones, it's almost the end of the day, we're both waiting on information and we haven't relaxed in I don't know when. Whaddya say to some food and a movie at my place?"

"Is the movie going to be implausible like last time?"

"Is there any movie you don't find implausible?" he countered.

She sighed and felt herself giving into the half-smile on his face.

"Fine." She said.

"Perfect." He replied, rubbing his hands together. "Let's go."

"Let me just go tell Cam." She replied.

Soon they were on their way to Booth's, armed with some take out and a couple of movies. They were soon seated on his couch, eating their food in silence.

"What's wrong, Booth?" she finally asked, putting down her carton.

"What? Can't we hang out?"

"Yes." She replied. "But we usually do it at the end of a case. Not that I mind, it just seems like there's something bothering you."

"Cullen chewed me out." He admitted. "Tawny's parents want to bury her and Cullen wants the case solved in a week." He ran his hands through his hair. "This case is driving me crazy."

"We get to question Miller again tomorrow." She pointed out. "Plus, Zach's working on the weapon. There's still evidence Booth. We can still solve this case."

He nodded. "I know Bones. Now c'mon, let's stop thinking about it and watch a movie."

During the next two hours, Booth thought not about the movie, but rather his partner beside him. He marvelled at how even during their worst times, they always managed to cheer each other up, make each other stronger.

Who knew three years ago that he would be in a successful partnership with a squint?

She was right. They would solve the case and get this bastard. It's just what they did.

His cellphone began buzzing on the table. Picking it up, he answered.

"Booth."

"Yes? We'll be there right away. Thanks. Bye."

He turned to a curious Brennan.

"There's been a sighting of the Walkerton kids. Witness is at the FBI headquarters."

"Let's go." Brennan replied. They turned off the tv and headed out of the apartment. This could be the break they were looking for.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: SO SORRY for the delay! It's inexcusable! The good news is the next chapter is half written, so that should be up sooner! Thanks for sticking with the story, I appreciate it.**

They made it to the Hoover building in record time, weaving their way through the agents to Booth's office.

"Wait here. I'll go find Salzman."

She nodded and sat in his chair as she watched him leave. She couldn't help but ruminate on how different their working habits were. Everything at her desk had a place and while she had lots of papers, they were always in a neat and orderly fashion.

Booth appeared to be the opposite, papers everywhere, multiple coffee cups, post-its with scribbling she couldn't read. A picture of Parker grinning at the camera sat in a frame on the corner.

"You yell at me when I sit in your desk, yet here you are sitting in mine."

She looked up to see Booth smirking at her. Shrugging, she moved out of it and to the chair across from his. 

"No time for sitting Bones. Let's go question the witness."

Her raised eyebrow told him she needed more details.

"Witness says she saw a man walking with two children down the street. They seemed to be fine but she felt strange about them for some reason. Then she saw them in the grocery store. They never said a word and seemed to be following the man single-file. It wasn't until later that she saw the news and realized those were the kids."

Brennan nodded and got up and they made their way to the interrogation room. 

"Mrs. Hanover?" Booth questioned. The woman looked up and nodded. "My name is Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan. We just have a few questions for you."

She nodded again.

"Why don't you tell us exactly what you saw. Start from the beginning."

"Well, I was in town to run some errands. I live right outside Noble. I was parking my car to go into a store when I see this man and two children, a girl and a boy, a bit older you know, walking down the street. 

Now Noble's not that big and I know pretty much everyone and I hadn't seen them round before. But I didn't think nothing of it and went about my errands." She folded her hands together. 

"But then I went into the grocery store to get my groceries for the week. You see, there's two grocery stores in Noble, the old one and the new one. It's one of them chain-type stores you know? Anyway, I go to Wilson's and that's the old one. Not a lot of people visit it nowadays. They like the other one, but I said that local business is important to me so I decided to shop there."

"This is where you met the two children again?" Booth asked.

She nodded. "Yes sir. I was in the grocery store and I saw them again. The man was sorta tall, with dark brown hair. And the two kids, one was a girl. She was dressed in a very pretty pink dress, maybe 15 years old? The boy was older but not that much. It was strange though."

"What was strange?" Brennan prompted.

"I grabbed my cart and as I was shopping I met them in the aisle. The boy and girl were following the man right behind him and neither said a peep. Not about what snacks they wanted or anything. They just followed the man along. 

I didn't really think about it until I went home and was watching the news and they showed a picture of two missing children and it was the ones I saw in the grocery store. I called the police, but they couldn't find them."

"Thank you Mrs. Hanover." Booth said. "I'm going to get an artist to come in here and what I need you to do is describe the man to him and he's going to draw a picture okay? His name's Jason and he's very nice."

"Then can I go home?" she asked.

"Absolutely." Booth replied, standing up. "Thank you very much."

"No problem at all." Mrs. Hanover smiled. 

Booth and Brennan exited the interrogation room.

"So?" he asked.

"It sounds like it's them." She replied. "And it lends credence to the theory that they are in the cult of their own will." 

Booth nodded. "I agree. Let's go question Miller and see what we can get out of him."

She waited as Booth made arrangements with Jason, the FBI sketch artist, and watched him confer with another agent as well.

"Alright, Miller's in interrogation room three but we have a snafu. He's got a lawyer."

Brennan frowned. "That's not good Booth, we don't have much to hold him on."

"Let's just go see what we can do."

They made their way into the interrogation room and came face to face with a smiling Miller and his lawyer.

"Agent Booth, this is my lawyer, Edward Nixon."

Booth nodded curtly at the lawyer and sat down, Brennan beside him. "Ready to talk Miller?"

"My client will own up to the fact that he did buy some grappling hooks but only for personal use."

"Your client doesn't seem like a hiker to me." Booth said, leaning forward on the table. 

"He bought them for other reasons, which he does not need to divulge. The fact is, Agent Booth, all you have is my client's name on a receipt saying he bought grappling hooks. We are 'confessing' to that fact. He did indeed buy grappling hooks but he didn't kill anyone with them. And if that is all you have, I will have to ask you to let us go."

"He killed Howard Walkerton." Booth replied, in a low, dangerous tone.

"I killed nobody!" Miller said angrily.

"Agent Booth, if you continue to harass my client, I will be forced to alert your supervisors and sue the FBI."

"You listen to me." Booth said menacingly as he leaned across the table, only inches from Miller's face. "I will get you. You did this and I will make sure you pay for a long time." He stood up and left the interrogation room.

Miller and the lawyer smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Brennan asked, as she got up. "He'll keep his word. We know you killed him and we'll find the evidence to put you away."

She walked out of the room to see Booth pacing the hallway. 

"Booth?" she questioned.

"He's getting away with it." 

She could hear the simmering rage in his voice.

"No he's not. We can…" she was interrupted by the ringing of her cellphone.

"Brennan. Yes? Zach, we'll be right there." She turned to Booth.

"Zach's got the weapon and they are tracing it right now."

"Okay." Booth said. "Wait here, I've got to let Miller go."

She watched as he stalked off down the hall. This case needed to be resolved soon. She didn't know how much more of it her partner could take.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hi Everyone! First of all, thanks to everyone reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it! Almost 100 reviews for this story. Second of all, I've imposed a bit of a writing schedule on myself, so expect regular updates. The next chapter will be up tomorrow or Saturday! **

They were sitting on the couch in Angela's office, waiting for Zach.

"Stop fidgeting Booth." She whispered, trying not to disturb Angela, who was typing at her desk.

"I'm not fidgeting." He replied. "And if you would give me more room."

"Why are you two whispering?" Angela asked, looking at them amusingly.

"We're just trying not to disturb you Angela." Brennan said.

"Oh please. I'm just doing this report. Disturb away." Angela replied, swivelling her chair and facing them.

"Where's Zach?" Booth asked. "Because I've got to…"

"Way to tell Cam about our experiment." Hodgins said loudly, as they entered the room.

"I didn't mean to." Zach replied. "She just looked at me with those narrow eyes and…"

"Do you have the weapon?" Booth interrupted.

Zach nodded. "I calculated the distance point between the two bone dimples, allowing for curvature and force and the estimated the length of the handle by…"

"Please, Zach." Booth interrupted again.

"Oh, right." Zach replied. "Basically I came up with this." He gestured to Angela and she entered some numbers into the Angelator and a stylized weapon popped up.

"Wow." Booth said. "That's pretty big."

Zach nodded again. "I cross referenced it with weapons in today's time and in the past and came up with this."

Angela tapped the pad again and an image appeared of a silver, crescent-shaped axe with an intricate design.

"It's a Vatican guard axe." Zach noted.

"And I took the information and cross referenced it and came up with this website." Angela said, moving over to her computer. ". It sells all sorts of replicated weaponry from historic battles and stuff. I read the biography of the person who creates the weapons and he lives outside of Johnson City, Tennessee."

"American Smoketree is from Tennessee." Hodgins noted.

"Yea but Tawny was found in DC and killed in Virginia." Booth said. "Could she have been killed in Tennessee?"

Brennan shook her head. "The body wasn't moved that far."

"Besides." Hodgins interjected. "The smoketree wasn't found on Tawny it was found on the other two children."

Booth was silent, pacing the floor. "There's something I'm missing." He muttered. "Miller kills Howard, who kills Tawny and who kills the other children?"

"We're missing something." He announced. Well, it looks like we get to go on a field trip Bones. Maybe the answers are there."

"Do we get to fly this time?"

"Yes, I will book the flights. I've got to go tell Cullen, I'll call you with the flight arrangements. Good job Zach." Booth bustled out of the room, missing the smile that crossed Zach's face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two hours later, Angela found Brennan in her office, pouring over a stack of papers.

"Bren? You okay?"

"What?" she replied, looking up and squinting at Angela.

"C'mon." Angela said. "Let's take a break, go see Sid, okay?"

Brennan nodded.

"Do you mind if I ask Cam?" Angela asked. "She's in need of a break too."

"Of course Angela." Brennan replied, grabbing her coat. A half hour break wouldn't hurt. She wasn't getting anything done anyway.

Five minutes later, they were in Cam's car and on their way to Wong Foo's.

"I didn't see your car in the structure." Angela said.

"Booth drove me." At Angela's questioning look, she continued. "You know how he gets with serial killer cases."

"Yea that sounds like Booth." Cam chuckled. She pulled into the parking lot of Wong Foo's and they all got out and made their way inside.

They sat at a booth and waited for Sid to come and bring them their food.

"So what's new with everyone?" Angela asked brightly.

"Other than the case?" Cam questioned. "Not much."

"Yes, it seems to be taking over our lives, isn't it?" Angela said. "How's Booth, sweetie?"

"He's frustrated." Brennan replied. "I'm frustrated too. It's a logical inevitability that we are going to catch the person who did this. Our conviction rate is very high, we've solved 95 of our cases in the last three years, we will get him. But at the same time, the forensic evidence isn't helping. And that frustrates me."

"Because you feel like you can't do your job." Cam noted.

Brennan nodded.

"Well let's hope that the Tennessee lead gives us another clue and leads us to more forensic evidence. Sometimes cases are just like that." Cam said. "That's why you've got cops and good investigators like Booth."

"Ladies." Sid interrupted, placing down their drinks. "Your meal will be out in five."

"Thanks." They chimed.

"Can we talk about something other then the case?" Angela asked.

"Found your husband yet?" Cam queried.

"Okay, never mind." Angela sighed. "Let's just talk about the case."

"My dad asked me to be a witness for his defence." Brennan said.

"Are you going to do it?" Angela asked.

"I don't know." she replied. "I examined the body of Garrett Delaney. Technically, I'm on the prosecution's side along with the rest of you and Booth."

"Tricky." Cam said, taking a sip.

Brennan nodded. "Hopefully this case doesn't go on too long and interfere."

Sid came and placed their food on the table. "Eat up ladies. You look like you need it."

"Thanks Sid." Cam said. "Well, let's eat!"

Brennan was just about to pick up her chopsticks when her cellphone rang.

"Brennan." She answered. "What? Okay, I'm leaving right now. Bye."

She saw the other two questioning looks. "Booth's at the lab, he got us a flight that leaves in an hour, I've got to go. Sorry."

"No problem, Dr. Brennan. We will see you in a couple of days. Keep us updated."

"I will." She replied, grabbing her coat and heading out of the restaurant.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you going to fidget the whole way there?" she said, looking over at her squirming partner. "Because fidgeting can be a sign of …"

"Look." He interrupted. "I'm just trying to get comfortable."

She raised her eyebrow at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's…" he trailed off and sighed. "Charlie's parents left me a message and I need to call them back."

"What do they want?" she asked.

"They want to know what happened to their son. They want answers I can't give them."

"Yet." She stated. "We can't give them answers yet."

"Right." He replied.

They sat in silence for the better part of a half an hour until a buzzing noise sounded.

"My phone." He explained as he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. "Booth."

"Excuse me." A flight attendant said, coming up to them. "You can't talk on the phone on this plane, I'm going to have to ask you to turn it off."

"He's a federal agent." Brennan replied. "Booth, show him your badge."

"Uh huh, un huh.." Booth said into the phone as he pulled out his badge and flashed it at the man.

"It doesn't matter." The man replied. "You need to turn off that cellphone now."

"Okay, gotta go." Booth said, hanging up the phone. "Sorry about that." He said to the flight attendant.

The flight attendant just gave him a scolding look and walked off.

"That was Agent Adami. They finally got the owner of the website, a Susie Wilson from Kentucky. She's a housewife."

"Kentucky fits." Brennan noted.

Booth nodded. "We will bring her in for questioning when we get back."

They fell into silence again, both contemplating how despite the frustration of the situation, the pieces of the puzzle were falling, albeit a bit slowly, into place.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy!**

They were now in their rented car (Booth driving of course) as they headed from Knoxville airport along the highway to Johnson City.

"Do we have time to eat first?" she asked.

"We should probably go question the guy first, then we can go to dinner. In the mood for Mexican?"

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I was in Johnson City a few years ago, before I met you, working on a homicide case. Anyway, there's this restaurant, El Torito? It has the best Mexican food, their enchiladas are delicious."

She chuckled. "Do you know the best place to eat in every town in the U.S.?" she asked.

He flashed his charm smile. "Well, I do try."

"Well, I hope it won't take long. I was just about to take a bite of my food when you called."

"Where were you?"

"Sid's. I was there with Cam and Angela."

"How are they?" he asked.

"Good." She replied. "I think Angela's anxious still about her ex-husband."

"Technically he's still her husband Bones. And yeah, I can imagine that's got her worried."

They fell silent again, Brennan staring out the window as Booth drove.

Finally making it to Johnson City, he shook her shoulder lightly and roused her.

"We're here." He said.

She sat up and straightened herself out. "What's this guy's name again?"

"Patrick Shila." He replied. "He owns the website and apparently makes some of the weapons as well."

They drove along, following the instructions until they came to a farmhouse. Pulling into the lane, Booth went over in his mind the questions he was going to ask. They got out of the car and made their way up to the front door. Ringing the door bell, there was no answer.

"S'cuse me?"

They turned and saw a man coming up to them from the direction of the barn. He was wearing overalls and a grimy white shirt and was holding an axe in his hand.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth and my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan." Booth said, introducing them.

"Patrick Shila." The man replied. "Sorry, I was just working on this axe in my workshop. Give me one minute to put it away and I'll be back out to help you."

"He seems nice." Brennan commented.

"Well let's just hope he cooperates." Booth muttered.

Ten minutes later, he emerged from the barn.

"Sorry 'bout that. How can I help you?"

"We're wondering if anyone's bought a Vatican guard axe from you lately." Booth said.

"Oh yeah, that was a few months ago. I only have three of those in stock. I don't make 'em myself, I get them shipped from Europe. They're quite the beauties though."

"I'm going to need the information of the buyer. It's for a federal investigation." Booth said, pulling out his notebook.

"Well now, I don't have the name of the person but I can tell you what they looked like." Patrick replied. "You see, I sell most of my weapons online, but there's a few who come down to get them in person. He was one of them."

"And you can just sell a weapon without seeing their id?" Brennan asked.

"I have a permit. And he sure did look over 18, so that's all that matters."

"He pay cash?" Booth asked.

"Yep." Patrick said.

"Can you describe him?"

"Yep." Patrick replied. "He was short and fat, very round like a gumball or something. He had glasses and he was one of them collector geeks."

"Collector geeks?" Brennan asked.

"Yes. You see, these people see a movie and it's got a weapon in it that they like or they read a book and it's got a picture of a cool sword in it and they want copies for themselves."

"This is quite the business." Booth commented.

"Yep." Patrick replied. "I love doing it, that's why I still am. When I'm a bit older, then I'll retire, maybe see the world or somethin'."

"Did you make them sign anything?" Booth asked.

"Yea, I get all my customers who come out here to sign a form saying everything's good and I'm not responsible. Come on inside, I'll go and find it."

They walked into the house and were lead into the living room to wait. Patrick opened a door connecting from the living room to what they assumed was his office and disappeared inside.

"Interesting." Booth muttered, looking at the many weapons displayed around the room.

"Weapons are one of the ways men use to show off their strength and sexual virility." Brennan replied. "It looks like he's overcompensating."

"Ssshh." Booth said, as Patrick came back into the room, holding a piece of paper.

"Here you go." Patrick said, handing over the paper. "I can't make out the signature, but I hope it helps."

"Thank you." Booth replied, standing up. "We should get going. Here's my information if you can think of anything else that might help."

"Absolutely." Patrick replied, leading them out of the house.

As soon as they got back in the car, Booth turned to Brennan and asked "Ready for El Torito's?"

Her stomach gave a huge rumbling noise in response.

Booth laughed as he turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"I'll take that as a yes."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: So here is the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who is reading along! I hope you are enjoying it. Next chapter should be up in a couple of days!**

She waited in the hotel lobby as Booth checked both of them in. She was running the case over in her head. During dinner, which was totally delicious, they had decided to go back to the hotel and brainstorm.

As much as she liked to follow the forensic evidence and not posit a scenario, she had to admit that in this case, it was all there was left to do. The forensic evidence was dwindling and there wasn't much more to go on.

She had to rely on Booth and his 'gut feelings' to get them through this case.

"Here's your key." He replied, coming up to her.

"Thanks." She replied. "Are we still going to go over the case?"

He nodded. "Why don't you put your stuff in your room and then come meet me in mine? I'm right next door."

"Sounds good."

Five minutes later, she was in his room, watching him pace back and forth.

"Booth, can you sit down?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I like to walk." He replied, flipping his poker chip between his fingers. "It helps me to think."

She sat back and waited for the look. Booth got a look, she noticed, right as he figured out who the murderer was. He said she had a similar look when she solved a puzzle with remains.

Her phone rang and she answered.

"Brennan."

"Dr. Brennan, it's Cam."

"Hold on Cam, let me put you on speakerphone." She pressed a button and Cam's voice came through.

"We finally found out what killed Charlie MacNaw and his family." Cam said.

"What was it?" Booth asked.

"They were….electrocuted repeatedly." Cam stated. "Tortured and then cut up."

"Tortured?" Booth said, his face pale.

"It's… it's possible that they were alive but just unconscious when they were being killed."

"Thanks Cam." Brennan said. "Get Zach to look at how much voltage was used. I need to know if it was more than a stun gun."

"I've got him doing it right now, Dr. Brennan."

"Thanks Cam."

She hung up the phone and looked at Booth.

"That's not good." He said, running his hands through his hair.

"At least it's something." She replied.

"Let's go over the suspects." Booth said. "Suspect #1 is Imelda. She killed Ryan Payne and scooped out his eyeballs. Could she have done that by herself?"

Brennan shook her head. "She would have needed help to incapacitate him."

"Suspect #2 is Miller Wheats. We know he killed Howard Walkerton, he probably had help."

"Maybe they had help from Susie Wilson." Brennan commented.

"Maybe, but what about Tawny?" He continued to pace. "Hit with an axe then strangled…"

"The person would have to be fairly strong to wield an axe like that. It's rather large and a bit ungainly."

"Question, Bones. If I handed you that axe, would you be able to take a swing at me with it?"

"Yes." She replied.

"Would you miss?" he asked.

She looked at him strangely.

"Think about it." He replied, pacing a bit faster. "That's a big axe. And in order for it to hit Tawny on the head in a spot that would knock her out, the person who used it would have to be used to it, right?"

She nodded. "I would agree. The bone dimples suggest that Tawny was struck in a precise manner."

"So who would be used to wielding a weapon like that?"

"Patrick Shila." She said, her mind catching up with Booth's train of thought.

"We got played." Booth replied. "He gave us that fake receipt to distract us, probably so he could destroy the axe. C'mon let's go."

She got off the bed and they headed out the door.

Booth dialled the police station. "Yes, this is Special Agent Seeley Booth. My partner and I are on route to pick up a suspect, armed and dangerous. Requesting backup."

She watched as he gave the address and hung up.

"So what's the plan?" she asked.

"We go in quiet, pretend like there's not a problem and try to apprehend him without any problems. But stay back okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine."

They pulled up to the farmhouse, which was eerily quiet. There were no lights on in the house.

"I guess he knows we're coming." Booth replied, slowly getting out of the car. "Stay back."

The walked up to the front of the house and she peered in. "I don't see anything." She whispered.

He nudged her and gestured to the barn.

They quietly crept towards the barn, as silent as possible. Booth grabbed the door handle and slowly opened it. It gave a loud creak. They both peered into the darkness.

Then suddenly, Patrick Shila leapt out at them, axe in hand, ready to kill.

* * *

**A/N: A note of apology to Hamlet's Pirate, who didn't want Patrick Shila to be the bad guy. In the words of Angela 'Sorry Sweetie!'**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Here's the next chapter of Evil! I'm glad everyone's liking the story and I love all the reviews. I really appreciate it! Next chapter should be up in the next few days.**

Booth managed to dodge out of the way as the axe came hurtling at his head. He pushed back against the handle and managed to unbalance Patrick slightly. He turned to disarm him, but Patrick lunged again, knocking him over.

He turned and saw Brennan fighting with Patrick, the blade dangerously close to her arm. Leaping up, he grabbed the handle of the axe and used it to push Patrick up against the barn door. He twisted Patrick's arm until he let go of the weapon and it fell to the ground.

"Have you got something to tell us?" he asked Patrick, as he pushed him around so his face was against the barn door.

Patrick grunted in reply.

"Can you get the cuffs, Bones?" he asked.

She nodded and reached into his jacket, pulling out the cuffs.

As he snapped the cuffs on him, they heard police sirens in the distance. "Calvary's here." He muttered.

The police cars pulled up and several cops got out and made their way towards them.

"Sheriff McKinnon?" Booth asked, directing his question towards a tall, burly man.

"Yes." McKinnon replied.

"I'm Special Agent Booth, my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan." He said, nodding over at Brennan. "Patrick here attacked us with an axe."

"You were on my property." Patrick mumbled.

"We were on your property earlier, you didn't seem to have a problem." Brennan noted.

"We'll take him in. He can stay in lockup overnight." McKinnon said.

"Thank you." Booth replied. "C'mon Bones."

It wasn't until they were in the car that Booth noticed Brennan holding her arm.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing." She replied. "Just a nick."

"A nick?" he said louder. He reached for her arm and removed her hand. "Jeez, Bones, you're bleeding everywhere."

"It's only a flesh wound. Let's go back to the hotel and use the first aid kit."

He sighed and nodded, turning on the car and pulling out of the driveway.

As soon as they were in the hotel room, he made her take off her jacket so he could have a look. She pulled down her tank top strap and waited for him to examine the injury, even though she knew it was a flesh wound.

"It doesn't look bad." Booth said, looking at her arm.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "See?" she said.

"Fine." He sighed. He went into the bathroom for the first aid kit.

Soon he was patching her up with gauze and tape.

"So, now Patrick is involved." She noted.

"This is good." He replied. "Now we have two people to question. Patrick and Susie. One of them is going to give us information."

"It's going to be hard." She said. "They are dedicated to this cult and their leader. They won't back down easily."

Booth nodded. "We will just have to weasel the information out of them then, huh Bones?"

"Yes." She replied. "We can bring back Dr. Rankman if needed."

"How did you meet him by the way?" Booth asked.

"I was doing an anthropological study of tribal religions in school which lead me to research about cults. Dr. Rankman was the resident expert in the department, I contacted him and he helped me and we've stayed in touch. He likes to argue about politics."

"There." he said. "Your arm is done. I guess there's nothing more we can do tonight. We'll go to the Sheriff's tomorrow."

"Well I'm going to go get some rest." She replied, getting up off the bed. "Thanks Booth."

"No problem."

She got up and exited the room, going into her own next door. Heading straight for the bathroom, she turned on the taps and started a bath. It had been a long day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, she watched as Booth chowed down on eggs, bacon and toast from the hotel lobby restaurant. She smiled as she stuck her fork into a piece of strawberry on her plate.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing." She replied. "Your appetite at times astonishes me."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." He replied, grinning.

She smiled back and finished her fruit cup.

"Listen Bones, when we get to the Sheriff's office, let me handle it okay? You know how locals are about FBI agents and we don't want to say anything to upset him."

"It's logical that I should talk to him since I'm not a FBI agent." She noted.

"Just let me do it okay?" he said, pulling out his wallet.

Smiling at the waitress who had come to take away their plates, he pulled out some bills and put it on the table.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

She nodded and they made their way out of the restaurant. Five minutes later, they were at the sheriff's office.

"Agent Booth." Sheriff McKinnon said. "Dr. Brennan."

"Hello Sheriff." Booth replied. "The prisoner cooperating?"

"Perfectly." McKinnon said. "Now I assume you're going to take him up to D.C?"

"Yes, that's the plan."

"Well now, I don't think he falls under your jurisdiction."

"He's a suspect in a federal case." Booth replied. "Therefore he falls under my jurisdiction."

"I believe unless you have criminal evidence, he falls under mine." McKinnon noted. "Now Patrick Shila has been an upstanding citizen of Johnson City for a long time. You just can't come in here and take him away unless you have proof. I'll hold him here for attacking you, but beyond that you've got to show me some proof."

Booth sighed. Sometimes he hated the local guys. "How's this? I'm going to get the agents from Knoxville to come here and collect Mr. Shila. Make sure he's ready. You can argue with them."

He turned to Brennan. "C'mon, let's go get a flight and question Susie Wilson."

They walked out of the office.

"That's it?" Brennan asked.

"It was going to take a couple of days to transport him anyway." Booth replied. "Might as well get the Knoxville feds to do it. They might be better at persuading the Sheriff. We'll stop in on our way to the airport. Let's go back to the hotel and pack up our stuff."

Brennan nodded. It was time to get some answers.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Alright! Now we're getting to the good stuff! Of course, there's still 18 chapters to go after this, but don't worry! We are one step closer to catching the bad guy!**

**A shout out to my fantastic beta, AnaG. She has edited every chapter of this story and has helped me immensely. We wrote a little something together called Playdate. Check it out! And thank you so much for reading and reviewing.**

The interrogation room was dimly lit, with grey walls, plastic grey chairs and a grey table. It was if the suspects were being told, this is what your life will become.

Booth didn't have a problem with that. Most of the people he brought in here were guilty and were in for exactly that. But as he walked in with Brennan and came face to face with Susie Wilson, he felt unsure.

It was most likely that she was one of the killers. She definitely had an unrelenting look upon her face. But the thought that she was duped by this cult leader, whoever he was, softened his idea of her.

Of course, if she did it, she'd be going to jail for life, no doubt about it. He introduced himself and his Brennan and they got down to business.

"Susie, you know why you're here?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"We found a website several weeks ago that is registered to you. We believe it to be part of an… organization that has become suspicious."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Susie whispered.

"Would you let us see your arms and legs then to examine you for a tattoo?" Brennan asked.

"No. Don't touch me."

"Look Susie." Booth said, flashing his charm smile. "You understand that you are the only one right now we have to tie to about seven murders. Seven murders that have been committed in a variety of states including Virginia and Kentucky, which both have the death penalty. There's not a doubt in my mind that if this goes to court, because of the horrible ways the crimes were committed, you would get the death penalty."

"I didn't do anything." She replied, her voice a little stronger.

"Why are you doing this for him?" Brennan asked. "What has he done for you?"

"I don't know who you mean." Susie said, adamantly.

"He's probably attractive, right?" Brennan said. "He promised you all these things, things you wanted. An escape from your life."

"I like my life." Susie said defiantly..

"But it wasn't what you expected was it, Susie?" Booth interjected. "You were the homecoming queen and now you're a housewife. Your husband isn't nice to you, in fact he sent you to the hospital a couple of times and was arrested for battery, isn't that right?"

"I was the one that…" she trailed off.

"So you went to church." Brennan said. "Hoping God would help you out. But somebody else did instead."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Susie said, pushing away from the table and standing up. "Let me out of here."

"Susie, please sit down." Booth said.

"No, I'm not doing this. I've done nothing wrong. Everything is fine." Susie replied, pacing back and forth.

"Okay." Booth said. "You're right. Everything is fine. My partner and I, we're going to go outside for a while. You sit and think, okay?"

Susie nodded and they left the room.

As soon as they were in the observation room, Brennan spoke.

"She's psychologically damaged." She said.

"She's protecting him." Booth growled.

"Probably because she's in love with him." Brennan noted. "Cults attract women who are in search of a piece of themselves and a huge part of that is companionship with another person. She wasn't getting it from her husband so along comes this man who promises the world and she falls in love."

"So much so that she killed for him." Booth said grimly.

Brennan nodded. "Probably more than that. As a woman she would have been used as a sexual object and nothing more. Some cults use women to recruit others by getting them to have sex with potential members. Others tell women that their job is to have sex with all the male members."

"And she would just go along with this?" Booth asked incredulously.

"She would have been told that she was making a difference, contributing to life, an important person. I can imagine she's wanted to feel important for a long time. Remember this leader, whoever they are, promised her this great life. Maybe it made her think about when she used to be popular. But something happened, I think. Maybe she witnessed something."

"I agree." He said. "She's not as calm as Miller. Something's bothering her. Maybe she's feeling guilt over who she killed."

"That doesn't make sense." She replied. "Because she thinks that she's doing it on behalf of him or God or whoever. She wouldn't feel guilty. Look at the Manson women, they stayed true to him for a long time and were arrogant about the people that they killed. Something's happened to her beyond that, which is bothering her."

They watched as Susie paced back and forth.

"We should wait." Booth said. "Just watch her for a while, see what happens."

They observed Susie pace back and forth in the room. After fifteen minutes, she began to grow more agitated.

"Hello?" she said plaintively. "Did you leave me? Are you here?"

She continued her pacing, now more frantically.

"I didn't…." she said. "Please don't…"

"She's shaking." Brennan observed.

"Just wait." Booth replied, his eyes never straying from the glass.

Susie began to shake harder, rubbing her palms together. "Please." She begged. "Just don't leave."

"Booth…" Brennan said, turning to him.

"Almost…" he whispered. "Come on."

"Booth!" she said loudly.

He turned sharply.

"We need to go in there." Brennan said.

He nodded and they made their way out of the observation room and back into interrogation.

"Susie." He started.

She ignored him and looked at Brennan. "I didn't mean to go in there." She whispered.

"I know, Susie." Brennan replied, taking a seat. "It's okay. What happened? What did you see?"

Susie shook her head and continued her pacing.

"Susie…" she said. "People got hurt because of him. Who is he?"

Susie stopped and sat down on the chair, laying her head against the table.

"Ezekiel." She whispered.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. I will fully admit this gave me the heebies. And the jeebies. I hope you enjoy!**

"Tell us about him." Brennan asked.

"He's not that bad." Susie whispered. "He's just…"

Brennan and Booth waited.

"I…" she hesitated. "He told me I would be happy. And I was. It was nice being there, on the farm with everyone. And the children. I can't have children and I got to care for them, you know? He told me that this was my destiny. That I would finally be rewarded for my good life." Tears came to her eyes.

"I'm a good person." She said. "I am, I promise. He tells me that all the time, Ezekiel. I'm good."

Brennan nodded. "Do you live with him?"

"Sometimes." Susie said. "I have my house with my husband but Zeel, he…"

"Do you have sex with him?" Booth asked.

"Not just sex." Susie replied. "The joining. I feel so beautiful and pure and he shows us all what it's like to be loved. I love him. I love him a lot, I'm just talking to you because he's scaring me a little, you need to understand, he's not a bad person."

"We understand." Brennan said. "What do you do when you live there?"

"We get up in the morning to listen to him talk. He tells the most wonderful stories." Susie said dreamily. "Then the men go teach the children. You see, the children are bad. The devil's inside them and only the men can get him out."

"What do they do to get the devil out?" Brennan asked.

"Sometimes they have to beat it out of them. The children are very naughty. And the joining. They do that a lot too. It's secret though and I'm not supposed to know about that. Zeel says my curiosity is evidence that the devil's still inside me."

"What do you do while the men teach the children?" Booth asked.

"We go bring members to the light. We talk to men and get them to like us and then we get them to come back to the farm with us."

"How many children are there?" Booth asked.

"Right now we have about fifteen." Susie replied.

"What ages?" Booth said stiffly.

"Our youngest is six and our oldest is seventeen."

Booth visibly recoiled. "Excuse me." He said, standing and leaving the room.

"We'll be right back okay, Susie." Brennan said.

"You'll come back?" Susie replied worriedly.

"I promise." Brennan stated. "Just a few minutes."

She left the room to see her partner pacing the halls.

"Booth…"

"He sexually assaulted all those children. Six years old…"

"I know." She reached out and grabbed Booth's hand, making him stop. "I know." She repeated. "But this is good. She's trusting us, telling us everything. I'm sure some of it isn't going to be pretty, but we have to show her we can listen."

Booth nodded. "I know." He ran his hands over his eyes. " We need her to confess to one of the murders. Let's keep her talking for now about Ezekiel. The more we know about him, the better."

"At least we know his name." Brennan pointed out.

"Yeah, now we need to know where to find him."

They turned and headed back into the interrogation room and came face to face with a tearful Susie.

"You can't tell him." She said adamantly. "Please, he's not a bad person but his temper, the father he…"

"Susie." Brennan said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "The father?"

"Ezekiel. He's the father, the one that takes care of us…he…" she trailed off, shaking slightly.

"What did he make you do?" Booth asked.

"Nothing." She said adamantly. "It was Howard's fault. He didn't want her to be a part of the joining."

"Her?" he asked.

"His daughter. I don't know her name, she's Mary now. All the girls are Mary."

"What happened to Howard?" Booth said gently.

Susie bit her lip.

"Ezekiel said he had to be punished. But that a whipping wasn't good enough. He needed to be punished so hard because the Devil was permanently inside of him. He needed to be punished. I just did the right thing. I'm a good person." She said, becoming agitated.

"We know you are." Brennan said. "What happened?"

"Me and Miller, we took him to the park, like Zeel told us. Miller hit him a couple times and tried to get him to listen. Ezekiel is the father, he knows best. Why can't people see that? Why can't he have seen that?" Susie said hysterically.

"Miller he shot him with hooks and we tied him in a tree and he was screaming, screaming so loud but he wouldn't confess that the devil was inside him. He just wouldn't. So I reached into my pocket and pulled out the matchbook. I struck a match and put it at his pant leg. And then another and another until the flames spread up his pants. And more and more and more until he screamed and burned."

"Oh god." Brennan gasped.

"You don't understand." Susie said, rocking back and forth. "He was a bad person. I did this because he's a bad person and I'm good. Ezekiel is good. And I will be punished hard when he finds out that I told you."

"Then what happened?" Booth prodded.

"I got to do the joining." Susie said. "With Ezekiel."

"What about Howard's children?"

"They're still there at the farm." Susie replied, calming a bit. "They understand."

"Susie… " Brennan started.

"No." Susie replied forcefully. "I want you to let me go. I need to see him, to explain. He will still love me. He will hold me and kiss me and love me. He will." She said insistently.

"Where is it? This place?" Booth asked.

"NO!" Susie yelled, standing up and smacking her hands on the table. "I love him. He loves me. I'm a good person. Howard was not. I killed him because the devil was there and I'll do it again. I'll do anything he tells me. I'm his. Let me go to him. Let me go to him NOW!"

Brennan felt a wash of panic go through her. She had helped Booth interrogate many suspects, but Susie seemed so unhinged that she could let loose at any moment.

"Okay." Booth said calmly. "Let me go get the paperwork, okay?"

"You'll let me go?" Susie said, her eyes shining with hope.

"We'll be back, okay?"

Susie nodded.

They made their way to the door before Brennan turned back.

"Susie?" she asked. "Do you have a tattoo?"

"Bones…" Booth said under his breath.

Susie nodded, her mood rapidly shifting to one of joy. "I got it after being there for six months. See?" she lifted her pant leg to show the tattoo on her inner thigh.

"What's it mean?" Brennan asked.

"It means he's always watching." Susie replied, smiling down at it.

Brennan nodded and backed away, leaving the room with Booth.

"Now what do we do?" she said, turning to Booth.

"We book Susie for Howard's murder and get her some psychiatric help. Then we have another visit with your buddy Rankman. I think it's time he helped us out."

Brennan nodded.

She couldn't help but feel they were in over their heads.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Here we go. Here's the next chapter, sorry for the delay. Thank you to everyone for the reviews and for reading. I really appreciate it!**

"So this is your lab?" Walter said, looking around in awe.

"Yes." Brennan replied. "My office is this way." She led them inside and sat in one of the chairs facing the couch.

"Very nice, Tempe." Walter said, sitting down on the couch. "Now, I'm assuming I'm here about your case?"

Brennan nodded and proceeded to fill him in on what happened.

"Interesting." Walter replied, after a pause. "I'm surprised she cracked so easily. Usually cult members are quite resolute."

"Like Miller Wheats." Brennan said.

"Exactly."

"She's psychologically damaged. I doubt we'll get more out of her."

"She's regressing." Rankman said. "When you leave a cult, a number of things happen. The ex-member becomes depressed; Susie probably believes she's not special anymore. They make you believe that you are a part of a lucky group going to heaven, or space or getting some sort of reward. Add on the guilt of 'betraying them' coupled with the fear that she will be reprimanded in some horrible way, and you can see, she will have problems to come for a while."

"How do we question her into giving us more information about Ezekiel?"

"Ahh, Ezekiel. The name means God strengthens. Ezekiel was a prophet, not just any prophet, a big one, in the Old Testament. He had these visions that told him how to restore the kingdom of Israel."

"So it's a religious thing?" Brennan asked.

"Yes and no. His name would suggest yes, however the goat eye tattoo is more of a Satanist symbol. And the manner in which these murders were committed suggest that he is more than a regular cult leader, he is killing for the sake of killing. You see, cult leaders believe that their actions are because of an outside force, such as God. Ezekiel seems to me like he built this cult up around him. Perhaps part of him believes in the religious aspect, but the other, baser part of him wants to kill because he likes the taste of it."

"So he's just your average serial killer then?" Booth said from the doorway.

Walter and Brennan looked up.

"Ahh, Agent Booth, good to see you again." Walter said.

"You too." Booth nodded. "Susie's at the Psychiatric Institute for observation. When we need to question her, we can go there or they will bring her to interrogation. My question is this, how do we draw out Ezekiel?"

"You're doing it already." Walter noted. "You're holding several of his people in custody. No matter how much fear he imbued them with, he will be thinking that one of them might reveal something. Even unintentionally. Because he doesn't have them close to him, he cannot maintain control."

"Well Patrick Shila's being brought in, so we will leave Susie alone and see if we can get him to crack."

"The more pieces of the puzzle you unravel, the more unhinged he will be."

"He'll keep killing?" Booth asked.

"Oh no doubt. It's important to be as quick as you can. When a leader's been threatened, they can turn to their cult members and ask them to do horrible things. Kill people, like Charles Manson did, or kill themselves."

"Jonestown." Booth said.

Walter nodded. "Over 900 people dead. But this Ezekiel is different. As you said, he's a serial killer. It's unlikely that he will kill himself in some sort of ritual, instead he will turn on the members."

"So we've got to act fast." Brennan said. "We can do that. Thanks Walter."

"Anytime." Walter replied. "But be careful, Tempe. Men like Ezekiel, they are severely disturbed. He will do anything and everything to maintain control."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Today's sermon is about loyalty." He said, raising his arms high. "There are those who say that what we believe is wrong but you know the truth, right?"

"Right." Chorused the group of people sitting in front of him.

"Would you shed your blood and the blood of others for God?" he boomed.

"Yes I would." They chorused.

"They are trying to divide us." He said. "But they will never divide us. We are united."

The group cheered, raising their hands in the air.

"I have seen the light. I was there. And I know that what we are doing will get us into the first level of heaven. And those, those who do not listen, do not obey, they will burn in hell. Hell is reserved for those who cannot be saved."

The group, each sitting on their own mat, nodded solemnly as they absorbed his words.

"God is busy." He said, clutching at his robe. "He does not have time to smite those who do evil. He asked me, asked us to do it for him. Will you go forth and get people to see the light?"

The crowd nodded.

"If they do not see the light, bring them here to face me. I want them all; women who have turned their eyes from the lord, children who possess the soul of Satan, I want them in front of me." He said thunderously.

"Now go. Go and do my bidding for I am the servant of God."

The group of people got up and began to disperse.

"Leave the children." He said in a low tone.

Soon the barn cleared until only the children, about thirteen in total, varying in ages, stood before him.

"Have you all been good?"

The children nodded emphatically.

"Good." He replied. "I need one of you to help me tonight. Be a part of the joining" He surveyed the children, his eyes landing on a twelve year old girl. "Mary, why don't you…"

"I'll do it." Another girl interrupted.

He surveyed her. Oh yes, he had her several times. She was fourteen, once the child of that Howard idiot but now, now she was his.

"Well aren't you eager?" he said, smiling. "Come on. And run along children."

The children left and he grabbed her hand, pulling her into the darkness.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Phew! I'm so sorry for the delay, I got caught up in other things. I'm hoping the next chapters will come a bit more quick. I'm actually away for a few days starting tomorrow, but I'm hoping that gives me lots of time to write and I can come back and post tons! Thanks to everyone for the reviews! Oh, and there's probably about 11-12 chapters left, just to let everyone know!**

As soon as Booth entered the lab, he knew something was wrong. His fears were confirmed when he got to the platform and found Brennan and Cam squaring off against each other.

"There's more here, I know there is."

"We've catalogued everything, Dr. Brennan." Cam noted. "And made casts of the remains."

"It doesn't matter, this is an active case."

"What's going on here?" he interjected.

"Cam wants to release the bodies." Brennan said sourly.

He nodded. "Cullen is on my ass to release them as well. Have we got all the evidence we can off them?"

"No." Brennan said.

"Yes." Cam said at the exact same time.

"What do you think's missing, Bones?"

"I don't know." She replied feebly. "Just something."

"Release the bodies." He said to Cam.

"But Booth…" Brennan protested.

"C'mon Bones, we've got to go interrogate Shila."

"Fine." She replied, stalking off the platform and following him out to the car.

Two minutes into the drive, she still hadn't spoken to him.

"C'mon Bones are you really mad at me?" he cajoled. "I'm just doing my job."

"Yea, by not letting me do mine." She muttered.

He understood then why she was upset. He was taking away her aspect of this case, what she was good at.

"Look Bones, just because there's no evidence left, doesn't mean that we can't still solve this case. Together."

She turned and gave a weak smile.

"Maybe we can get Shila to crack."

"Let's hope so." She replied.

He pulled into the parking lot and they got out of the car, making their way into the building.

"He's probably going to deny everything." Brennan noted as they got into the elevator.

"Probably." Booth agreed. "But maybe he'll give us a piece of the puzzle."

They made their way to the interrogation room, opening the door and entering inside.

"Patrick." Booth said, a fake smile on his face. "Good to see you."

Patrick grunted in reply.

Booth sat down in the chair opposite him, Brennan following suit.

"Let's talk."

Patrick folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair, not saying a word.

"Why did you attack us?"

Patrick remained silent.

"C'mon Patrick, this works easier if you talk to us."

Patrick stared straight ahead, barely moving.

Booth moved until his face was an inch from Patrick's. "Listen Shila, it's in your best interest to talk to us, do you understand?"

There was no nod of the head or a word that escaped from Patrick's lips.

Booth and Brennan glanced at each other quickly, concern etched on both their faces.

"Patrick." Brennan said quietly. "You're protecting him but you shouldn't. He knows you're in here. What will happen when you go back?"

They continued for several more minutes trying to elicit some word from the man, but he stubbornly refused. They made their way out of the interrogation room.

"What now?" Brennan asked.

"Susie." Booth replied.

"Do you think she can handle it?"

"Let's hope so." Booth said, running his hand over his face. "These people are driving me crazy."

Brennan nodded. "This case is…." She trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Whatever it is, I'm taking vacation after." Booth grumbled.

"Alright, give me five minutes to get someone to put Shila away and we can go to the Institute."

She nodded and watched him go off.

"Excuse me?" she turned and came face to face with a man, another agent she presumed.

"Yes?"

"You're Agent Booth's partner right? Dr. Brennan?"

She nodded.

"I'm Agent Wilders. I'm helping out on the case."

"You were the one who brought in Imelda right?" she asked.

"Right. Is Booth around?"

"He'll be right back."

"Oh right." Wilders said. "Well, I guess I can fill you in. We've started pulling up information about all the victims, trying to make a link, however we don't have much so far. Did you interview the friends and family?"

"We interviewed Mrs. Walkerton as well as Tawny's parents. We haven't interviewed anyone associated with the MacNaw's yet, although we informed the family of their deaths."

Wilders nodded. "Well hopefully we can find something that links them all together."

"Yes, we appear to be running out of forensic evidence." Brennan noted.

"And the suspects aren't talking?"

"Literally." Brennan said. Seeing Wilders confused look, she elaborated. "We just tried to interrogate Patrick Shila. He didn't say one word."

"Wilders, what's up?" Booth said, coming up to them.

"I was just telling Dr. Brennan here that we haven't found much on the search yet, but we are still digging."

"Thanks." Booth replied. "We are on our way to question Susie again, so hopefully that will give us something."

"Good luck man." Wilders said. "Nice to meet you Dr. Brennan."

"Nice to meet you too." Brennan replied, heading out with Booth.

Fifteen minutes later, they were at the Institute, waiting for Susie to be brought in. When they did, both Booth and Brennan were surprised at her appearance.

Her cheeks were sunken in and she was hunched over. She looked exhausted.

"Susie?" Booth said gently, gesturing to the chair.

Susie sat down and looked at them.

"Susie, we need to talk to you again about Ezekiel." Booth said.

"No, please don't." she replied, fear penetrating her voice. "He'll come for me. I didn't mean to tell."

"We know you didn't Susie." Brennan said. "We know he hurt you, and we want to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else."

"He didn't hurt me." Susie protested. "I love him, he would never hurt me. The children were just being bad."

Booth looked at the distraught woman and decided to take a different tack.

"Susie, when you lived with Ezekiel, where was it?"

She reached up and scratched her head. "What?"

"Where did you live?" Booth repeated.

"Oh, it was pretty. There were nice trees and a lovely house. And the meeting room is so big. It was nice to be outside."

"What else?" Brennan asked. "I'd like to go there some time."

"You would like it." Susie said, nodding emphatically as she tapped her fingers on the edge of the chair. "It's so pretty and special. Like me, you know?"

Booth nodded.

"If we wanted to visit, how would we get there?"

Susie suddenly stopped all movements.

"I can't tell you. It's a secret. Only the special people know."

"Can we become special?" Brennan asked.

Susie jerked her head slightly. "I suppose."

"What would we have to do?" Booth questioned.

"You would have to see Zeel." Susie replied. "He would be able to help."

"Okay, that sounds like a good idea." Brennan said, playing along. "How do we get there?"

"I'm special." Susie said defensively.

Booth and Brennan shared a confused look and pressed on.

"We know." Booth said. "We want to be too, but where do we go?"

"They didn't….I hadn't passed the levels yet. I accidentally said something and he punished me. That's why I can't see."

"Can't see?" Brennan asked.

"They blindfold me when I get taken up there and it feels like hours and hours sometimes and other times it's very quick. They stick a needle in my arm that makes my mouth taste like metal."

"So you don't see where you are?" Booth said.

"Well…" Susie said, biting her lip. "We're in Kentucky, I know that. That makes me special right?"

"Yes it does." Brennan said, reaching over and patting her hand.

"I don't want to talk anymore." Susie said, standing up.

"Okay." Booth said. "We don't have to talk anymore. We'll come visit later. Okay?"

Susie nodded.

After the nurse came in and led Susie away, Booth and Brennan headed to the car.

"Well at least we know it's Kentucky." Booth commented.

Brennan's stomach growled loudly in response.

"Hungry, Bones?" Booth said, chuckling. "C'mon, let's go to the diner."

They strode off to the car, content to take a short break from the case.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, here's the next chapter! After this, there's only 10 chapters to go! And in a few chapters we will meet the mythical Zeel! I hope you like! Also, promo time! I've started a little venture called Red Ink Books. The link is in my profile. If you like smut, you'll love this! Now, on with the show!**

Now that they were eating, everything seemed a bit better. Booth noted how exhausted Brennan looked and decided he was going to do something nice for her when this case was over. He didn't know what, but he was sure he would think of something.

"So.." she said, taking a forkful of her salad. "Kentucky."

Booth nodded. "It can't be too far from where Susie lived, so that narrows it down a bit."

"We are probably looking for a farm." Brennan noted.

"How do you get that?"

"The American Smoketree." She replied. "Remember it was found on one of the MacNaw children? It's most likely from a barn since Smoketree doesn't grow in Kentucky."

"Nice." He said. "That narrows it down a little bit, although not much."

"And with Miller and Patrick not talking…"

"Well, the Kentucky field agents got a warrant to search Patrick's place. I told them to go through it with a fine-tooth comb. Forensics, digging, the whole nine yards."

"Maybe they'll find something." She commented.

"Let's hope so." He took a bite of his burger.

"Do you have Parker this weekend?" she asked.

He nodded and swallowed. "Yes, we are going to the zoo on Saturday. Wanna come?"

"No, that's okay." She replied. "You two need time together by yourselves. Besides my editor has been bothering me for my latest chapters and I haven't even started."

"How do you have the time to do all this stuff?" he asked.

"I like writing." She replied defensively. "It's very cathartic."

"I guess those 'special scenes' must really be relaxing." He said, waggling his eyebrows.

" What special….oh you mean the sex scenes? Well, in fact…"

"No, Bones I don't want to hear about it." He said, holding up his hand.

"Then why did you bring it up?" she replied, looking perplexed.

"I just…never mind."

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm glad you have time with Parker." She said softly.

"Thanks, Bones." He grinned.

They finished their meals and made their way to the lab. Despite the late hour, everyone was still there. Booth filled them in on what they learned.

"That definitely makes sense." Hodgins said. "That would explain the Smoketree on the children."

"Is there any way to narrow it down?" Booth asked.

Hodgins shook his head. "There are a lot of barns in Kentucky."

Booth's shrill cellphone cut through the air and he walked away to answer it.

"Is this over yet?" Angela asked wearily. "I just feel like we aren't getting anywhere."

"We will." Brennan said assuredly.

"But you aren't getting anything from the suspects?" Cam asked.

Brennan shook her head. "Susie is incapacitated. She's completely hysterical, we couldn't get much out of her. Both Miller Wheats and Patrick Shila are unshakeable. We've questioned them both several times, they won't give up anything. Patrick Shila refused to say a word."

Booth bounded back up the lab steps. "We've got a lead."

"What?" she asked.

"Wilders just called. You know how he was searching through all of the victims' background, trying to come up with a link?"

Brennan nodded.

"Apparently, Charlie had money problems. He had a business, installing pools. It seemed he made a few bad financial decisions. He was almost bankrupt."

"That couldn't have been good for the family." Cam noted. "Did he receive any money from the military?"

"You don't get a lot." Booth said. "There's a severe pay gap. A lot of guys come back wounded, unable to work and can't support their families.. It really depends on how long you've been in the army."

"How much do you get?" Brennan asked.

"I waived mine." Booth replied. At her questioning look, he elaborated. "I make enough at the FBI to get by. There're guys who need it more then me."

"So he was in debt." Hodgins said.

"Yeah, and he went to a loan service for help."

"Not a bank?" Brennan asked.

"A bank wouldn't give a guy like him a loan. There're lots of these shady finance places that charge ridiculous fees but give you whatever amount you want. Charlie went to this Powell Loans, and got a 25,000 loan for his business."

"They just gave hi 25,000?" Cam asked.

Booth nodded. "Wilders looked up the loan company owner to give him a call. It's registered to one Reginald Powell. Unfortunately, there's a problem."

"What?" Brennan asked.

"Reginald Powell is dead."


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Here we go. Now we're getting somewhere...**

"How long?" Booth asked.

"Be patient." Brennan chided. "I'm sure Angela's working as fast as she can."

"I know." He sighed. "It's just …we're close now, I can tell."

"Your gut?" she questioned.

"Of course." He replied staunchly.

She shook her head. "I hope you're right."

"Guys." They looked up and saw Hodgins in the doorframe."Angela's got something."

Booth sprang off the couch and they headed to Angela's office, Cam and Zach following behind.

"So?" Booth asked.

"Reginald Powell died twenty-two years ago." Angela replied. "It was horrible. This man, Orton Sikes escaped from a nearby psych hospital and came across Reginald and killed him. He was stabbed eleven times, then shot twice in the head."

"Twice?" Cam asked.

"Two rounds in succession." Booth commented.

Angela nodded. "Orton Sikes had schizophrenia. Apparently he thought Reginald Powell was some sort of threat. He was sent back to jail…"

"Not the pysch place?" Booth asked.

"No. They put him in jail. Three months later, he hung himself in his cell."

"So who's giving out the loans?" Cam asked.

"Reginald Powell was survived by one son, Aiden. He appears to have dropped off the map."

"Aiden's Zeel." Booth said. "He's got to be."

Brennan nodded in agreement.

"Run his name through a list of convicted offenders. I'm going to see what I can dig up. Catch you guys later."

He ran out the door before anyone could speak. Heading to his SUV, he flipped open his cell phone and punched in some numbers.

"Rick, it's Booth. I've got a name I want you to look up. Aiden Powell. I need to know everything about him. Yeah, he might be our guy. Okay, bye."

His hands gripped the steering wheel as he pulled out of the parking lot. It was him, he knew it. He could taste it. They were closing in on him. He felt some of the weight lift off his shoulders. The end was in sight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brennan was sitting on her couch, feet up on the coffee table, reading an article from her newest anthropology journal that she received in the mail. She was in her pajamas, despite the fact that it only nine o'clock. She found herself with an evening all her own, something that hadn't happened for a while. Especially not in the middle of a case.

But Booth was off finding out about Aiden and there wasn't much left for everyone else to do. Cam ordered everyone to go home and she had no choice but to comply. She ended up writing four chapters of her book before sitting down and reading.

She reached for the glass of wine on her table, her eyes never straying from the page. However a knock at the door made her look up and she set the journal and her glass down on the table, getting up and moving towards the door.

It was Booth, she knew. Nobody else ever visited her at night. She opened the door and came face to face with a grinning Booth, who was holding up a box.

"Wong Foo's?" he asked. "And a file on our suspect?"

She smiled and opened the door.

"How did you know I was hungry?" she asked.

"You're always hungry." He retorted, moving into the kitchen. She could hear him getting plates down and she smiled.

"Wine?" she asked, coming into the kitchen.

He nodded and she poured him a glass, carrying it out to the couch. Despite the fact that she had a perfectly good kitchen table, they ate here more often than not, especially during a case. He followed with the food and soon they were dining onSid's specialities.

"So?" she said, in between a mouthful of noodles.

He put his plate down.

"Aiden is definitely our guy. Three and a half years ago he was sent to prison for attempted rape and when he got out, he disappeared. Nobody put out a missing persons so he just slipped under the radar."

"What about his parole officer?"

"He checked in once then disappeared and violated his parole. They haven't found him since.Also, it turns out that Aiden was a witness to his dad's death. He was eleven at the time and he saw the whole thing."

"That would definitely leave some psychological scarring." Brennan noted.

"I thought you didn't believe in psychology." He teased.

"This is different. Clearly he's suffering from some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder or…'

"He's crazy?" Booth interjected, grabbing a spring roll from his plate.

Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "That is a possibility."

"Anyway, I've got Wilders looking up any properties that Reginald or Aiden might have, but so far there's nothing."

"Is there a police photo?" Brennan asked.

"From when he was jailed? Yes."

"We should give it to Angela and see if she can update it and then take it to Susie, Miller and Patrick."

"And get their reaction. Nice one, Bones."

"Thanks." She replied.

"Well, it's been fun, but I should get going"

"Thanks for the food, Booth." She smiled.

"No problem, you've got to eat right?"

"I'm perfectly capable of feeding myself." She grumbled slightly.

"Then why don't you?" he replied, nudging her shoulder.

She didn't reply; just shot him a dirty look that melted into a smile.

"Well," he said, getting up off the couch and heading for the door. "See you tomorrow."

"I'll get Angela to work on the picture right away."

"Sounds good." He said, opening the door. "Bye, Bones."

"Bye, Booth."

She shut the door behind her and surveyed the mess on her table. She was always on cleanup duty when Booth came over.

But she wouldn't have it any other way.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Here we go! Getting close to the end. Thanks to everyone for the reviews, I really appreciate it. I'm crazy busy this week, but I'm hoping to have the next chap up by Friday or Saturday at the latest!**

The sunlight streamed in, illuminating the room with its warm rays. Illuminating it a little too much for the occupant of the bed in the middle of the room. He cracked one eye open and rolled over, pulling the covers over his head and shutting the light out.

It didn't work.

Booth groaned and rolled back over. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he glanced at the clock. 7 am. He had no doubt his intrepid partner was already up, probably already at the lab. But he just wanted to roll over and fall back asleep.

He never felt such a strong desire to stay home from work before. He loved his job, the challenges and problems that came along with it. Although there had been a time when he didn't want to admit it, he enjoyed his work with Bones and the squints. They were smart and fiercely loyal. And dedicated. To the point of exhaustion. In the three years since they had been working together, he had never seen anyone else work harder.

Especially Bones.

She had this intense focus that he admired. He was focused too, of course, but not like her. She could stare at a skeleton for hours, working her way through it meticulously.

This wasn't the reason why he didn't want to go to work. It wasn't the gigantic stack of paperwork either.

It was Ezekiel.

This case had been going on for so long; he could hardly remember what happened in the weeks before it. And now, now they were so close he could taste it. They were coming to the end.

Or so he hoped. He prayed to God it wouldn't take months to locate Zeel, he must have slipped up somewhere.

For the first time, he was feeling the weight of the case on him. He was tired of chasing after this guy, tired of having to cancel with Parker so he could interrogate suspects, just generally tired.

And a little afraid.

He would only admit that to himself in the comfort of his own bed. This was one of the most difficult cases he had worked on. Not only that, the pure violence of the crimes had become rooted in his soul. He could recollect Tawny's body in an instant, Howard and the others too.

He knew exactly what happened to them, every cold, bare fact had been reiterated until it was planted in his brain. He only hoped when this was over he could forget it.

He was unsure what it was going to be like. Facing Ezekiel. The man had violently killed these people without remorse. He was like Howard Epps but amplified, ten times worse. The comparisons with Epps made his heart pound.

He remembered last time. What happened to Cam, what could have happened to Parker and Bones. He didn't like that feeling. Like his control was seeping through his fingers like sand.

That wouldn't happen this time.

This time he wouldn't lose control.

He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his feet hitting the cold hardwood floor. Running his hands through his hair, he decided to take a shower and head over to the lab. Maybe Angela had the updated face.

He had to stop worrying about this. They were going to get this guy.

They always did.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was dark, black curtains draped across the windows, so light could not come in. And yet, he was awake. Staring at the ceiling, his mind never stopping, always thinking of each scenario as it came to him. Trying to come up with a plan for his people.

They were his people. They followed him, did what he asked, kissed his feet, bowed before him, offered sacrifices.

He was God. And he liked it.

And yet, he had never felt himself faltering in his mission before today. He loved his life, loved killing those who he deemed not worthy, surrounding himself with those who were. They had setbacks lately but that wasn't the reason he didn't want to get out of bed. It wasn't the line of new recruits that he had to see either.

It was the FBI agent.

He didn't know much about him, but what he did know was his desire to pull his still-beating heart from his body and watch him collapse to the ground in his own pool of blood.

He had taken Imelda, Miller, Susie and now Patrick. He'd _stolen_ them. His people. He wanted them back. And hewas formulating a plan, one he hoped wouldn't take weeks. He wanted them by his side at the end of the week at the latest. He wanted Susie to gaze at him with her adoring eyes and Miller and Patrick to carry out his wishes.

For the first time he felt a weight upon him that he couldn't shake. He was tired of this FBI agent and his poking around. He wanted to be alone with his people. He was tired.

And a little afraid.

He would only admit that in the comfort of his own bed, never in front of his people. He had never met him and yet he instinctively felt as if this agent was smart. Like he could be the one to stop him. And that he couldn't allow. It was just unacceptable.

He remembered last time. What happened to his father. When he saw him being killed in front of his eyes. He didn't like that feeling. Like his control was seeping through his fingers like sand.

That wouldn't happen this time.

This time he wouldn't lose control.

He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his feet hitting the cement floor. Running his hands through his hair, he decided to head to the common room and watch everyone participate in the daily prayer circle.

He had to stop worrying about this. He was going to kill this man.

He always did.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: First of all, thank you so much for the reviews. I'm glad that everyone is enjoying this, it really means alot. Secondly, here's the chap! I hope you like. The next chapter will be up in a few days!**

"Got your face, Booth." Angela said, as soon as he walked in the lab.

He clapped his hands together. "Good job Angela."

"That's why I'm here." She replied, smiling.

He followed her into her office and found himself unable to stop smiling himself. They were going to get this guy and he was going to take Bones out for pie at the diner and it would be just another day. But then, he was definitely taking vacation.

As he walked in, she handed him a clipboard with a drawing.

"This is him?" he asked, disbelievingly. The sketch Angela had done showed a man with a baby face, clean cut hair and almost a twinkle in his eye. "He doesn't look…"

"Killerish?" Angela interjected. "I know. But that's him."

"Thanks Angela, I'm going to run this through a couple of databases, see what we come up with. Where's Bones?"

"In her office. But she's in a phone meeting."

"With who?'

"Her editor." Angela replied. "Apparently the new book's going to be out soon."

"Already?" he asked. "That was quick."

"I know." Angela nodded. "She's a speed demon."

He gave a slight nod and headed towards Brennan's office. Editor or not, they had work to do. Rapping his knuckles on the door twice, he waited. Brennan opened it and he held up the picture.

"That's him?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yep. Let's go get it confirmed by Miller and Patrick. "

She bustled around, picking up papers and putting them into piles. "Elaine, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to cut this short." She spoke into the phone.

"That's okay, Tempe. We can talk another time. Anyway, great job on those chapters."

"Thanks. I will send you an email with the revised ending this week."

"Perfect. Bye."

Brennan grabbed her coat and followed him out the doors.

"New book?" he asked.

She nodded. "I just have to finish up the end."

"How do you possibly have time?" he asked, as they got into the car.

"Time management is a skill. You need to be able to prioritize your work effectively. Then it's easy. You should try it."

"My time management skills are fine."

"Then why do you always have a big pile of paperwork to do at the end of the month?" she queried.

She had him there. He hated paperwork and always put it off.

"Let's not talk about this. I'd rather talk about how we are going to find the man behind the face."

"Well, hopefully either Miller or Patrick will confess to knowing who that is."

"So far they've both been close-mouthed. We could visit Susie again but I'd rather not have to. She's already pretty damaged."

He pulled into the jail's parking lot and found a spot near the entrance.

"Here we go." He said, turning off the car and getting out. They headed towards the prison, hoping the check in system wouldn't take that long.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Forty-five minutes later, they were waiting for Patrick to be brought into the room. They had already met with Miller, who didn't appeared to recognize the sketch at all. Booth felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, but pushed it away.

"Patrick." He said, as the prisoner entered the room.

Patrick said nothing.

"That's okay, don't respond. I don't need you to say a thing." Booth said. "Just look."

Brennan held up the photo of Ezekiel.

And Patrick flinched.

Booth saw it. It was a slight twitch of the face, but it was there. It seemed like they were on the right track after all.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She looked at the words she had just typed and shook her head. This wasn't good at all. Sighing, she leaned back in the chair. She was five chapters away from the end and things just weren't working, despite the fact that she had an outline. She just couldn't convey what she wanted to.

"Bones."

She looked up wearily and saw her partner in the doorway.

"The Kentucky agents called." Booth said, depositing himself on the couch. "And they found stuff."

"Stuff?"

"They searched Patrick's backyard and came across an outdoor cellar. They opened it up, went in and not only found the bloody axe, but about seven bodies as well. So far."

"Are they being careful extracting them? Maybe we should go down there so I can do an examination."

"Actually, I was thinking we could send Zach." He replied. "We are close to solving this and I may need you here."

"Zach does need some more field experience."

"There you go. Send the baby squint out into the world."

She rolled her eyes at him. "So even if we don't have Ezekiel yet, we've got Patrick."

"I'm getting them to bring him back in for interrogation tomorrow. We tell him what we found and he cracks and tells us who Zeel is."

"Do you think he will?"

He nodded. "Once we tell him that he might get the death penalty, he'll crack." He said confidently.

"We're close." She noted.

"Yep. So close I can taste the celebratory pie when we wrap up the case."

"I don't like pie."

"I know, we've had this discussion before, remember? I don't even understand how you can't like apple pie. I mean, c'mon Bones, apple pie. It's the best."

"I prefer chocolate."

"Ooh, chocolate pie. Also good."

"No I mean, just chocolate. No pie."

"You're strange. Everyone likes pie."

She shook her head and turned back to her computer.

"So I'll pick you up here tomorrow at nine."

"Sounds good." She replied, not tearing her eyes from the screen.

"Later, Bones." He said, getting up and heading to the door.

"Bye, Andy." She murmured.

He grinned widely. He doubted she meant to say it, which made him smile even more.

"So I am Andy Lister." He said, chuckling as he headed out of the lab.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: We are getting down to the wire here! Five chapters left! I hope you enjoy and thanks for all the reviews.**

She decided to observe this time, but she couldn't say why. Usually she was right in there with Booth, questioning suspects and watching him do his thing. But today, today she couldn't sit there in that interrogation room and watch Patrick Shila remain silent. She only hoped her partner would coax it out of him.

Yet, even as she stood watching Booth talk to an unresponsive Patrick, she felt no desire to be there. For once, her inquisitive nature had died down and instead she felt…sick. This case had been going on for almost two months and only now did she begin to realize the weight it carried.

It must be worse for Booth, her partner who let things affect him so deeply, especially when there were children involved. Plus his friends were killed as well.

She pulled out her cell phone and sent Booth a quick text message saying that she would be back later. She saw him check it quickly in the room and then glance up at her, concern in his eyes.

She could have stayed. Maybe he needed the support. Maybe he needed her in there with him. But this time she couldn't help. Turning, she opened the door and left the room quickly. There was someplace she needed to be.

Twenty minutes later, she had arrived at the prison and was going through the checkpoints so that she could go see her father. They had reconciled but she still didn't visit him much. Somehow she felt compelled to see him.

Walking into the room, she saw him there looking a little haggard, but still okay.

"Hey." He said smiling, standing up to greet her.

She gave him a quick, awkward hug and sat down.

"What brings you here?' Max asked. "You usually don't come to visit me in the middle of the day."

"Nothing. I just thought we could...talk."

Max nodded and leaned back in his chair. "About what?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"How about a game of cards?" Max asked, pulling the cards out of his pocket.

She nodded, glad that she had something to distract her. Unfortunately, five rounds later, she realized the cards weren't distracting her that much.

"What's wrong?" Max asked.

She just stared at him.

"Hey, I'm still your father." He reminded her. "You used to come to me all the time. Maybe I can help."

She sighed and put down the cards that she had been aimlessly shuffling for the last few minutes.

"There's this case." She started. "It's tricky."

"Tricky?"

"It involves a cult. We've been working on it for several months, I can't really go into details."

"You're tired." He noted, seeing the dark circles under his daughter's eyes.

"I just don't...I've been doing this for so long..."

"You need a break."

Brennan nodded.

"You should go on vacation after you're done. Someplace sunny."

Brennan smiled. "You sound like Booth."

"Yeah, well, Booth's a good guy." Max replied.

"I was supposed to be in an interrogation but I just couldn't do it anymore. And that's what makes me mad. Is that I feel like I'm giving up involuntarily. I'm just so frustrated with this case and we don't have any evidence which means that my job is pretty much over but I'm still working the case with Booth because we are partners and this man, Dad, this man did horrible things..." she trailed off, sighing.

"You'll find him." He said, placing his hand over hers.

"How can you be sure?" she asked plaintively.

Max flashed back to when she was eight years old and had asked him if he was sure that her pet frog that died had really gone to a better place.

"Because it's what you do." He replied assuredly. "You and Booth are very good at your jobs. And because every criminal will eventually get caught." He shrugged and pointed at himself.

Brennan smiled. "Thanks Dad."

"Anytime. Now what do you say to another round?"

She nodded and started to deal the cards. The beep of her phone interrupted her. She pulled it out and glanced at the text message from Booth. It was simple.

'We've got him.'

"I've got to go." She said, standing up. "Booth has a lead."

"Told you." Max said, smiling.

She headed to the door but then doubled back and pulled her father into a hug.

"Thanks Dad." She whispered.

And then she was out the door and Max was left by himself, waiting for the guard to escort him back to his cell. Prison wasn't so bad. He could be in here the rest of his life, and not care. As long as he got to help his daughter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She made it back to the Hoover building in record time, heading to Booth's office, where she saw him in discussion with several agents.

"There's going to be children there, so we need to go in nice and slow, but with lots of back up. We are going to have a meeting in ten minutes in the boardroom. Cullen's going to run through some stuff."

The agents, including Agent Wilder, nodded and left, brushing past her.

"Where have you been?" Booth asked.

"I went to see my father. What happened?"

"I showed Patrick pictures of the axe and the bodies that were recovered. I told him we were going to pin the whole thing on him, being the cult leader and everything. It took a while but he cracked and gave us the location. Wayland, KY. Just outside actually. We're putting together a task force and are going to fly tomorrow to Lexington and then drive down to Wayland."

"I get to come right?" she asked.

He nodded. "As if I could stop you. We're going into a meeting with Cullen and the other agents in a few minutes."

"What, are they going to storm the place? That seems highly illogical."

"Nope, just the opposite actually." He replied. "Come on, I'll explain it all in the meeting."

They entered the board room, to find several other agents milling around.

"Dr. Brennan." She turned around to see Agent Wilder.

"Agent Wilder." She replied.

"So, this became a big case."

She nodded. "I've had other cases if you will, that have been much more detailed, but never with Booth."

She saw his questioning look and explained.

"I worked in Guatamala identifying bodies from mass killings. I also worked in Rwanda after the genocide."

"Wow." He replied. "That must have taken a lot of work."

"It took over five years and there's still more bodies that haven't been identified and probably never will."

"Okay people!" They turned and saw Cullen entering the room. "We have a situation here. This Ezekiel is holed up in a barn outside Wayland, KY with his followers, many of whom are children. We don't want another repeat of Waco. Therefore we will be doing this a bit differently. Special Agent Booth is the lead on this and he will explain. Agent Booth?"

"Obviously if we show up with the full SWAT team in tow, Ezekiel will catch on right away and could possibly hurt the children. Instead, my partner, Dr. Brennan, and I will go up to the house on our own, with the SWAT team around the perimeter, hidden out of sight. Once we have located Zeel, we will bring in the SWAT team if necessary. I'm hoping it won't be necessary at all."

"Will the other followers try to retaliate?" an agent asked.

Booth nodded. "Possibly. That's where you come in. After Dr. Brennan and I have entered, approximately two minutes after, a team of five agents will come in to secure any other potential dangers. I want to do this fast and quick, without any bloodshed."

"What if he thinks we are coming and plans ahead?" another agent asked.

Brennan shook her head. "That's highly doubtful. He's quite arrogant and probably won't think we've gotten this far in the investigation."

"Bones is right." Booth nodded. "There's no way this guy thinks we are coming. All he knows is that we've had difficulty interrogating the suspects. Miller Wheats was released and no doubt he went straight to Ezekiel and assured him there was nothing to worry about. We will fly out to Lexington tonight and drive down to Wayland. We will hit them early in the morning. Any other questions?"

Nobody spoke.

"You will be briefed on your specific roles in Lexington. Lexington field agents will also be helping us out." Cullen said.

"What about local police?" Agent Wilders asked.

"There's exactly one police officer in Wayland and it's probably best to keep him out of this." Booth noted.

"Alright then." Cullen said. "Dismissed."

Brennan turned to Booth. "We are just going to walk up and knock on the door?"

Booth shrugged and grinned. "Thought we'd give it a shot."

"Agent Booth." Cullen said, coming up to them. "Make sure Dr. Brennan is outfitted with a bulletproof vest. I'd rather you not be there at all, Dr. Brennan, but I can tell you would just come anyway. Keep me updated Booth."

"Yes sir." Booth replied as Cullen left the room.

"What now?" Brennan asked.

"Food. And then packing." Booth replied.

"You always think about food." She said, smiling.

He shrugged. "Hey, what the stomach wants, the stomach wants."

"Let's go to Wong Foo's."

"Deal." He said, as they walked out of the room.

He relished these few moments of peace. They would go to Wong Foo's and laugh and eat and forget for a moment that tomorrow they were coming up against a deadly killer.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Whew, here we go. After this, there's four chapters left! Thank you so much for all your reviews, I really appreciate it!**

They were in the car, heading to Wayland. They were by themselves which was surprising, considering the number of agents that were coming with them, but it was something Brennan was glad to have.

Neither of them said a word, both mulling over what was going to happen.

Brennan was running through the plan in her head and devising all the things that could go wrong and then coming up with scenarios for them.

Booth was thinking about all the people who would be there and various ways to protect them all. His hands gripped the steering wheel and his eyes flicked to his partner. They had several close calls lately and despite the fact that she was an asset in the field, sometimes he hated bringing her.

They were half an hour away and Booth began to ready himself. He was thrilled and relieved to catch this guy after so long but something told him it wasn't going to be easy. He didn't think they would receive a friendly welcome.

"_Hello. I am glad to see everyone here this fine morning to talk about God. I hope everyone prayed in their sleep and felt the presence of God with them throughout the night. _

_There are those of us who are missing but I know that in their hearts they are with us. Today, today I need to talk to you about something. Something that will shatter your hearts. But you must hear it. The apocalypse is coming."_

_There were gasps from the people in the crowd. _

"_Yes." Zeel said, shaking his head. "The signs are here, right in front of us. There are eight signs of the apocalypse and we are facing down each and every one. We must be brave and strong."_

"_What...what are the signs?" a man asked._

"_The first comes from the Book of Daniel. 'Many shall run to and fro...' Run to and fro!" Zeel shouted. "No one chooses to stay in their place and respect God, they flee. And the wicked, the wicked are coming towards us right now and we must stop them."_

Brennan sighed.

"What?" Booth asked.

"Nothing." She replied. "I'm just feeling a little anxious."

"Me too." Booth replied. "But it's almost over."

"I just hope there isn't a lot of bloodshed."

"That's what the plan's for." Booth replied. "We're really solid on that."

"Yes." Brennan nodded in agreement.

"Remember what you told me about Howard Epps?" Booth asked.

She shook her head.

"You said that he wasn't as smart as us. And that's why we were able to catch him. It's the same with Ezekiel. He thinks he's smart, but he's not."

"_The second sign is knowledge. That verse goes on to say that the increase of knowledge is wicked and evil. Those who crave knowledge are not satisfied with what God has given them. However, the Bible does say this— '__Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.'__ We will be safe from what is to come. From the evil that inhabits people and sickens them like a poison."_

"I think we can avoid another Waco." Booth said. "In fact, we have to. We have no choice. Things cannot go down like that."

"The good thing is that Ezekiel doesn't believe he's God or Christ."

"That's good?" Booth asked.

"Yes. Just like Walter said, he's your average killer. So while he spouts this religious nonsense, he doesn't really believe it. He's just using it to get what he wants. This gives us a chance. It's unlikely that he will make his followers kill themselves by drinking poisoned Kool-Aid like Jim Jones."

"Yes, but he may make his followers attack us." Booth said grimly.

"Now that scenario is more likely." Brennan noted. "But it does work to our advantage, knowing what kind of killer he is. He likes dramatics."

Booth nodded. "He always sets up his crime scene, even when he's not participating."

"Exactly." Brennan said. "The grappling hooks, the skipping rope...it's most likely he wouldn't be able to deal with a surprise attack."

"_The third sign is false idols. I am not Jesus nor would I ever claim to be. I am not foolish like David Koresh. I just know that I am a lowly servant of God, here to guide you on your way to God's kingdom. There is too much emphasis placed on revering these false idols; celebrities, rich people, even law enforcement is considered god-like. They are not. These false Christs like David Koresh are a sign of what is to come: the appearance of the true anti-Christ."_

They pulled up to the meeting area, several miles away from the farm. The SWAT team was getting ready. They got out of the car and headed over to Cullen.

"You two ready?" he asked.

They nodded.

Brennan looked around at the SWAT team as they loaded their weapons. They looked like they were preparing for a war. She hoped it wouldn't come to that. She was handed a bullet proof vest and she slipped it on, putting her jacket over top in order to hide it. She felt a little bulky, but she hoped she would become accustomed to it..

She saw Booth putting on his vest and saw the look of determination in his eyes. When he got into work mode, he was calm, efficient and almost certainly deadly. She could understand why he was a sniper. His focus was incredible. Despite their differences, that was one thing they had in common. He walked over to her and held out a weapon.

"Here." He said. "You might need it."

She nodded and they got back into the rental car, which looked quite un-FBI-ish, which was the point. And soon they were heading off down the road.

"Here we go." She thought.

"_The fourth sign is about war. Matthew 24, verses six and seven say 'You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for these things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...'. _

_These wars are among us." Zeel shouted. "They think that they can come for us, take us and turn us into warmongers. But we are not that way. That is why we do what is necessary to rid the world of evil. We can stop the apocalypse but we must kill the wicked first. They must be smited down and brought before the will of God."_

They got out of the car and headed toward the front door of the average looking house in front of them. To the right was a barn and there were several children playing in the yard.

"I wonder how many of these children have been kidnapped?" Brennan murmured as they made their way to the front door.

They knocked and an older woman opened the door. "Yes?" she asked.

"We're looking for Ezekiel." Booth said.

"I don't know who you're talking about." The woman replied.

Booth glanced over at the barn. "We will just head over here."

"This is private property." The woman protested.

"And I'm FBI." Booth replied as they turned away.

"I thought we were being subtle." Brennan asked, as they made their way to the barn.

"Yeah, well, I'm done with subtle. Let's go." He said briskly.

"_The final sign is an increase in evil. Matthew 12 says '__Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.'" Zeel said, raising his hands above his head. _

"_There is in an increase in wickedness, in those who choose the devil rather than God and it is up to us to bring them down. There is a wicked evil in the world and we are the only thing that's good and pure. And when the apocalypse comes, we will be ready and we will face it with a grin because we are pure and perfect and..."_

"Freeze. FBI."

Booth inched along towards Ezekiel, whose hands were still high in the air. Brennan on the other hand, circled towards the followers; trying to make sure no one escaped or did anything rash.

"Agent Booth?" Ezekiel asked. "You have made a deadly mistake."

But despite the bravado in his voice, Booth noticed the slight shake in his shoulders.

"Oh yeah?" Booth replied. "The only mistake I've made is not finding you earlier." He pointed the gun against Ezekiel's head.

"Now listen up." He said loudly."Everyone here is under arrest."

A murmur went through the crowd and there was fear on everyone's faces. And yet no one moved, as if they were unsure of what to do. They turned, looking to their leader for guidance. leader.

"If you come with us quietly, then everything will be fine." Booth stated.

"Yes, everything will be fine." Zeel said loudly. "They have nothing. We will be back here in no time. Stay strong people. Remember what the Bible says 'See to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.'

At that moment, FBI agents burst into the barn, led by Cullen.

Brennan lowered her gun and watched as everyone, including the children were rounded up. As Booth led Zeel to the car, she walked over to one of the older girls, who looked so familiar.

"Are you Sarah? Sarah Walkerton?" she asked.

The girl slowly nodded.

"It's okay." Brennan said. "Everything's going to be alright now."


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy. It's a little short but I wanted to end it here. I have to issue a heebie-jeebie alert. And thanks to everyone for their reviews, I really appreciate it! I've also posted in my story Moments today, and I may have a chap for my story Remembrances as well. So check those out!**

It's quiet. There is barely a sound, just the slight tapping of fingers against a table top. The slight inhale and exhale of his breath permeates the dark room.

From first glance you wouldn't be able to understand why he was here. He had boyish good looks and it wasn't until you looked closely at how his lip curled into a sneer, his eyes seemingly clod and distant, that you realized that he was different.

But he was different. And he knew that. He was special.

The room was gray and depressing, a reminder, he supposed, of what life in jail would be like. It was supposed to be intimidating. But he rather liked it. He had always liked dark, gloomy places, once wedging himself in the cupboard in the pantry. It was two days before they realized he was missing.

His mind flitted to thoughts of the agent who arrested him. Booth. As he was walking by, his hands in cuffs, he caught sight of a woman. She was gorgeous, ethereal, and he wanted to fuck her. Fuck her and then turn her inside out with his knife.

He felt his cock grow hard at the thought of it. She seemed strong too. He loved making strong women cry.

Seeing the doorknob turn, he sat up and braced himself.

It was time to make them pay.

The door opened and Booth and Brennan walked into the room. Ezekiel's eyes widened. It was her. He licked his lips in delight.

"Hello, Aiden." Booth said.

Ezekiel said nothing. There wasn't even a glimmer of recognition on his face.

"Let's talk." Booth said as they both sat down opposite him.

Ezekiel looked between the two of them curiously. He assessed them like he would anything.

First, the agent.

A cocky, arrogant ass who somehow thought he was going to win. This agent wins a lot.

'Not this time.' Ezekiel thought.

If this agent was as smart as he was then he would recognize someone smarter. After all, he was with her.

She was smart. He could just tell. Her face was expressionless like his. Agent Booth wore his emotions all over himself. It was disgusting. But she, she was different.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Why don't we start with you killing Tawny Michaels." Booth said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied calmly.

"How about Charlie MacNaw?"

"Perhaps Agent Booth." He said smoothly. "You could explain why I'm here."

"You are here on charges of murder." Brennan said.

That voice was heavenly and he briefly fantasised about her begging for her life as he stripped the skin from her body.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He stated, his fantasy replaying over and over in his head.

"Tell me Dr. Brennan." He said, leaning back in his chair. "Are you fucking Agent Booth?" 

The reaction was instantaneous. Booth stood up, his hand shielding her as he leaned in close.

"Shut up." He said menacingly.

Ezekiel just smiled. Now he had the control. What a stupid, sad, little man.

"What's wrong Agent Booth? Can't perform?" he sneered.

"Did you kill Charlie MacNaw?" Booth stated.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He grinned. He turned to her. "I bet you have a pretty cunt. Drive the boys wild." In his mind's eye, he pictured taking that cunt and slicing it to ribbons with scissors.

"That's enough." Booth thundered.

"Clearly you're not enough." Ezekiel smirked.

"You are playing games with us." Brennan said calmly. "It won't work. There's evidence that ties you to the body."

Ezekiel knew she was lying. He had made sure of that. "Well, it must be wrong." He stated. "I'm just a simple man trying to do God's work."

"You are a killer who will be put away for a long time." Booth growled.

Ezekiel just folded his hands and put them in his lap, his fingers rubbing slightly against his hardened cock, sending sparks through his body and making the smile on his face grow bigger.

"It must be hard, Agent Booth, to resist the charms of a whore like that every day…."

In an instant, Booth was across the table, pressing his head against the cold metal.

"One more word and I will pull out my gun." Booth said fiercely.

Ezekiel licked his lips, his tongue darting out and tasting the cool metal. He grinned.

This was too easy.


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Here we go! There's only one more chapter after this. Boo Hoo! That should be up in a couple of days. Thank you so much to everyone for the reviews!**

It had been too long. Too long since he had tasted someone's blood and he found himself craving it. Odd, that he would crave it now. That's not how it used to be. Before he was only curious, that was all, wanted to see what it was like to kill someone.

Everyone gets curious about things, his was about killing. At first it was about letting blood spill. Hestarted with his own body; cutting himself and feeling the blood ooze out onto the linoleum of the kitchen floor.

Then once, as he watched the blood pool on the floor, he had a desire to taste it. Just a little lick. He was just curious. And then he did and he was so aroused that he pulled out his cock and jacked off over the kitchen floor, laughing as he came.

It was then he decided what he wanted. To spill someone else's blood. Once he did that, then he could go about his way. It was just scientific curiosity.

So he found a young woman walking home at one in the morning and he attacked her, stabbing her repeatedly. He came all over her before walking away. It was then, then he realized the complete thrill of what he could do. It felt powerful, as if he was consuming that person's essence. Soon he had to have more.

Sometimes his conscience flared up, but soon his cravings overtook him and he killed over and over again, loving every second.

It wasn't until Lisa that everything changed. She was maybe 12 years old, and he saw her at the park. He knew her name because he heard her mother call to her and it was then that he decided he wanted her. He wanted to violate her in every way possible. The thought excited him desperately and he went about carrying out his plan.

That was the beginning of his true craving. The one that wouldn't stop.

And now he was here, in a cold jail cell waiting for the agent and that slutty doctor to come back and question him.

He laughed as he thought about their feeble attempts. He would not give anything away because he couldn't stop feeding his cravings. He needed to be outside in the world fulfilling his destiny, not inside this disgusting cell.

Yes, once he got outside he would find someone. Maybe a little boy this time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

"How long?"

"Fifteen minutes."

Booth nodded and continued to flip the poker chip in his hand. "I don't want you in there."

As expected, his partner resisted.

"You're kidding me right, Booth?" Brennan asked, hands on her hips. "That's what he wants. It will give him the upper hand."

"Yeah, I suppose." He conceded. "But listen..."

"I'll be fine." She stated. "Will you?"

He nodded again and they fell into silence.

They were both steeling themselves against what was going to happen next. Yesterday's disastrous interrogation session paved the way for fevered pacing and a sleepless night. They both had dark circles under their eyes and they were slightly hunched, as if standing up straight would require too much effort.

This case had tested them. More than tested, it sucked them dry and asked for more. They were so close to the end but faced with an insurmountable task. Getting Ezekiel to confess.

This was usually the easiest part. Brennan brought in her forensic evidence and Booth did his intuitive cop thing and the suspect crumbled. But Ezekiel not only didn't confess, he riled them up and took control.

Brennan looked over at her partner and now realized why he kept that poker chip in his pocket. It was for moments like these when you were too jittery to keep still but too tired to move.

Booth, meanwhile, was running through the victims in his head, keeping focus of why they were doing this.

_Tawny. _

_A girl with so much potential strangled to death and violated._

_Howard. _

_Trying to turn his life around only to be tortured and set on fire. _

_Ryan._

_An innocent college student who was feasted on._

_Charlie MacNaw and his family._

_Paid the price for trying to make a better life for his family._

His gaze hardened. He would get this motherfucker. There was no way that he was going to get away with this, despite the slightly sceptical look on his partner's face. This was one of those times when faith came in handy.

Faith in his own abilities, faith in his partner's and faith that God would never let a man like this get away with his crimes. He had to pay for what he did and Booth was the one who was going to make him.

The door opened and they both turned and saw Cullen followed by Walter Rankman.

"Walter". Brennan said, smiling tightly.

"Tempe. And Agent Booth, good to see you." Walter replied. "I was looking over the file and I think I can help."

"Okay." Booth said.

"He is over confident, cocky to say the least."

"That's for sure." Booth muttered.

"He thinks there is nothing that can stop him and there is nothing that you can say that will make him reveal himself. But there is one thing you can talk about that will probably shock him out of his cockiness. His father."

"His father will shock him into confessing?" Brennan asked sceptically.

"Yeah." Booth interrupted. "He probably hasn't thought about his father in a long time."

"Agent Booth is correct." Walter said. "The death of his father no doubt impacted him deeply. It's most likely he then put it out of his mind, focusing on other things."

"Like killing people?" Booth asked. "Yeah, I gotcha. C'mon Bones."

"That's it?" she asked.

"Don't worry." He replied. "I've got a plan." He glanced in the room where they were bringing Ezekiel in. Time to get the bastard.

They headed out of the observation room and into the interrogation room. Ezekiel was sitting there calmly, his hands folded.

"So..." Booth started.

"You're back." Ezekiel said. "Good to see you. Especially you." He said, directing his last comment to Brennan.

"I thought we could continue our chat." Booth replied.

"What about?" Ezekiel scoffed.

"Tell me about your father."

A myriad of emotions displayed themselves of Ezekiel's face before he turned stoic again. But Booth saw it.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your dad? Reginald Powell?" Booth said. "He's dead, isn't he?"

Ezekiel didn't reply.

"Yeah, that's what the file says. Poor old Reggie died several years ago. Freak attack."

"Don't call him that." Ezekiel muttered.

"What?" Booth taunted. "Reggie? He looks like a Reggie to me". He said, holding up the picture.

"His name is Reginald."

"So Reggie here got killed by some crazy."

"Stop that!" Ezekiel said, his voice rising.

"Stop what?" Booth replied calmly. "Just talking about your dad here. Did you like him? I didn't like my dad either. He died several years ago. Heart attack. You watched your dad die right? What was that like?"

"I know what you're doing." Ezekiel said, shifting in his chair. He seemed quite agitated now. "And it won't work."

"What am I doing?" Booth asked.

"You want me to talk about him, like that will solve anything. I know what you want."

"You don't know what I want, but I know what you wanted." Booth replied. "Maybe to be the one to kill him first?"

A spark of recognition flashed in Ezekiel's eyes.

"I don't know what you are talking about." He said, sitting back in the chair.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Damn him. That cocky FBI agent and that slut were just staring at him, not saying a word and it frustrated him. He wanted them to leave or lean a bit closer so he could rip their limbs off.

Those motherfuckers. Didn't they know? He needed his drug of choice, he needed it to happen, needed to kill someone and taste their blood. He felt a bead of sweat on his forehead and willed it away. He couldn't break, wouldn't break. They couldn't make him.

There was that niggling thought worming in the back of his head telling him to give in. Just say the word and he could get what he wanted. It didn't matter if they put him in jail, he could kill some inmates. That wouldn't be a problem, would it?

He shook the thought away. He wouldn't give them a chance to be smug. He wanted Booth to feel pain and if he can't stab him in the gut with a knife, at least he could do this.

He opened his mouth and shut it again. What did they want him to say? That he liked seeing his father die. He did. His father was never nice to him, never cared about him and to see him stabbed like that made him feel vindicated. His father was an evil man, couldn't they see that?

"Let's talk about Susie." Booth said, cutting into his thoughts. "She confessed you know. And she's making a deal in order to testify against you."

_No she's not. She wouldn't do that, he's bluffing stay cool. _

_There we go. C'mon now. Take the bait. _

_Who does he think he is? Who do they think they are? Don't they know what I need? What I'm capable of?_

_C'mon, just fucking do it. Confess so I can lock you up and go get pie and never have to think of you again. _

_But what if she did? Susie was always the weak link, he knew that. He should have spent some more time with her, should have punished her more. _

_Don't break eye contact. He's going to crumble. You can do this, Seel. We're close now. _

_Stop staring at me! Stop it! _

_There it is. His eyes shifted a bit. C'mon now, c'mon._

_She's staring at me too. They're both staring at me, why won't they say anything. Can't they see what I had to do? Can't they understand? That bitch Susie should have died. _

"That bitch Susie should have died."

His words echoed in the small room, making him realize that he spoke them aloud.

Booth just quirked an eyebrow at him.

He shut his eyes and felt the ground fall from beneath him. His life, his precious life, was seeping through his fingers like sand. His heart was pounding hard and he squeezed his eyes, trying to block what was coming next, trying to stop the stares from penetrating his mind.

He liked dark places.

Anything was better than this.

"I like killing people."


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Oh my god, it's the end. How is that possible? Sorry for the delay, I was moving over my web board to a different location and it's been occupying my time. You can find it here at www dot theaby dot org. Without all the spaces and such. Just google The Aby, you should be able to find it! So I have to give a few shout outs. The first are for a2b and Bella who have reviewed every chapter and given me great feedback! **

**The second is for my beta, AnaG. She has been nothing short of spectacular and I'm convinced all of the good bits in this story are really from her. You should check out her writing, it's great. **

**And of course, to all of you who reviewed. This is my first case fic, so I was quite anxious about posting it and you all alleviated my fears. I hope you enjoy this last chapter!**

Tired wasn't a strong enough word. Somehow exhaustion didn't fit the bill either. Whatever Seeley Booth was feeling, he wished it would go away. Apparently, hiding in the stairwell wasn't going to help.

It had only been eleven minutes since the confession. After admitting he liked killing people, Ezekiel had a ton to say, almost cockily, about how he arranged the whole thing. Those he didn't kill, he got others to do. He smiled then, a sick and twisted smile that would be forever burned into Booth's memory.

He was led away and after Booth spoke with Cullen, he left Brennan in his office and said he would be back. That was four and a half minutes ago. She was probably looking for him. But he couldn't move from his spot.

He was originally making his way to the break room to get them both a coffee. But his legs took him here instead. It was too stuffy in there and he just wanted to breathe.

So here he was, sitting on the concrete step, methodically picking at the greyish paint that was starting to peel on the banisters.

His mind flitted to several years earlier, when he was thrown in a pit and pulled out daily to survive vicious beatings. The time in the pit was supposed to be for sleep, but he barely got any, unable to shut his eyes for fear that he would never open them again. He remembered being so tired that his body shook and he sent up a prayer to God asking that it never happen again.

It hadn't, but he could feel the cusp of it now. That total exhaustion that makes your eyes blur and your body tremble. He had barely slept in the last five days, so intent on catching Ezekiel.. And yet, he didn't want to sleep now, the nagging thought in his head repeating itself. What if he fell asleep and woke up and this part was still a dream? The part where they caught the bad guy?

He ran his hand through his hair and rested it on his leg, his fingers drumming his thigh lightly. He closed his eyes and flashes of the last few months went through his head.

Finding Tawny. Questioning the kids. The discovery of Howard Walkerton. Imelda. The goat eye. The axe. Patrick's attack. Susie's breakdown. The interrogation of Ezekiel.

The images played in his head like a movie. One that he never wanted to see again.

He felt a hand on his and lifted his head. Brennan was sitting beside him, her hand resting lightly on his. He was so lost in his thoughts, he never heard her coming.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Hey." He replied.

They sat in silence, a slight quirk of a smile on Booth's lips appearing as he realized that she wasn't asking him how he was. She probably already knew. She knew him better than anyone, a thought that mostly comforted him but sometimes frightened him.

He wondered how long they could sit here before they were found and called back to work. Ezekiel's confession was only the beginning. They had to determine who to arrest and charge at the farmhouse. The children needed to be questioned and their families located. There were multiple interrogations, arrests and more to deal with. Booth was sure he would have to speak at a press conference in the morning. The thought of it all was too exhausting. It was just too much.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She had been waiting in his office for a few minutes before she had decided to look for him. She knew he took the case hard, they all did, but because of his personal involvement with the MacNaws, it was worse for him.

She was glad the interrogation was over. She couldn't imagine being in that room another minute. Ezekiel's smile would be imprinted in her memory, a smile of evil. She had seen it before. When she was in Guatemala, that smile was right in front of her as she was thrown in a pit and told that she was going to be killed very soon.

The kidnapping and beatings were nothing compared to that smile. Brennan had seen horrors in her lifetime, but none shook her like staring into the face of evil, seeing the human race at its absolute worst.

She reached the break room and peeked inside. He wasn't there. She knew he wouldn't stray far; they still had work to do. But she understood his need to flee for a while. It was hot and stuffy and she wanted to escape and find a place where she could breathe again.

She prided herself on her compartmentalizing, but this case had left her exhausted and unable to push aside the victims in her mind the way she usually did. She just kept seeing their faces in her mind over and over and she feared that if she fell asleep, she would dream of them as well.

She reached the stairwell and opened the door. There he was, his head in his hands, and her heart gave a twinge of ache. There was no way to make this better for him, she knew that.

Making her way down the stairs, she wasn't surprised when he didn't lift his head. He was so deep in thought. It wasn't until she placed her hand on his, that he had looked over at her.

A simple touch, Angela had once said. She had come to realize that she needed that simple touch too. Booth's arm slung around her shoulders as he flashed her a silly grin always made her feel better, no matter what the situation.

They were silent as she mulled over what to say to him, what she could do to make it better for both of them. A thought came to her and she blurted it out before she could stop herself.

"Pie?"

He smiled, a smile that soon became a grin and he nodded his head as he hoisted himself off the stairs. She got up and turned to leave when he reached for her arm and pulled her into a hug. She squeezed him back, both taking comfort in each other.

Time would pass, days would fly by and they put this behind them and go back to what they did best.

Be partners.

And solve cases.


End file.
